Baby steps for programming Nordic

Question

Hi,
I think getting started with the Nordic chips is not as easy as some others.
I would like to know what are the first things that I need to run my code on a Nordic? Especially NRF9E5. 
 What is the IDE or what is the recommended IDE? If there is one.
What is the compiler or sdk? If there is no IDE.
Is it programmed through ISP(like atmel) or ICSP(like pic)?
What is the recommended programmer device to burn the hex files?

mnhs · Accepted Answer

First, buy an evaluation kit. Yes, it costs some money but it is an investment. In beginning, it is important that you know the hardware is tested and OK. You will get two evaluation boards with the actual nRF9E5 and other circuitry, two EEPROM programmers and some other things. I don't know how it is in nRF9E5 but as soon as I filled the "Product key" which was written on the evaluation kit box, I was welcomed with a great bunch of documents with complete documentation, SoftDevices etc. So you are not buying only the hardware but also the unlimited access to the development resources. The standard development environment in which all examples are provided is Keil . You can download a version with limited .hex size for free and use it indefinitely. 
 The "problem" of Nordic chips is not because they are hard to program (as for nRF51, thanks to all the libraries and SoftDevice, everything works like a charm, really good job there in Nordic I must say), they are specialized SoC which are used, in comparison to e.g. Arduino, PIC, AVR, by much, much smaller community. Most of those developers already work as professionals. So yes, introduction to the platform is not as comfortable as in some other platforms. I started developing with nRF51 several months ago and I have to tell you, the first month I was completely lost and desperate (especially when it comes to BLE, I was like what?! GATT, profiles, so complicated .. now I see how easy and effective those things are, I just went through the examples literally line by line .. pretty painful but it paid off :-) ). This is normal, read the examples, play with them, modify them. 
 Good luck!

Baby steps for programming Nordic

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