Programmer

A programmer is a hardware device used to write data, firmware, or configuration settings into programmable electronic components such as microcontrollers, EEPROMs, flash memory, or FPGAs. It provides the necessary voltage levels, timing signals, and communication protocols required by the target device during the programming process. Programmers can be standalone units or integrated into development boards, and they typically connect to a computer via USB to receive the data to be programmed. Common examples include AVR programmers, PIC programmers, and JTAG programmers used in embedded system development.