Computers surround us. I’m not speaking of laptops or tablets or cell phones. Billions of remote controls, thermostats, sensors, and gadgets of all sorts have little computers inside them. And while millions of software engineers develop applications for phones, computers, and the Web—the programming languages and skills that apply there are quite a bit different than those needed to develop code for tiny embedded microcontrollers.

Or at least, they were.

In 2004, Microsoft introduced the SPOT Smart Watch. It ran a tiny version of their desktop .NET programming runtime and enabled application developers to write software for its tiny microcontroller using the C# programming language they already knew. Almost a decade later, this runtime is now in its fourth major version, is running on millions of devices around the world, and has grown to enable tinkerers to use traditional software development skills to build their own electronics projects with Netduino.