Building without using a SDK?

[olalonde]

I am trying to teach myself embedded programming using the nrf52840 dev board. I would like to write some small program without using the SDK to get a better understanding of how things work at a lower level. Just to blink a LED for example.

Is this possible?

The tutorials/guides I found all use IDEs and SDKs (NrfConnect SDK or the NRF5 SDK). 

I am able to erase and program the microcontroller from program line (using hex file and nrfjprog) but I don't know how to setup the build step (compilation).

Ideally I'm looking for a step by step tutorial or some repository on Github with a makefile.

Thanks.

[Amanda Hsieh]

Hi, 

It's possible, but our support is based on SDK. 

You could join the nRF Connect SDK Fundamentals course in the Nordic Developer Academy.

I would suggest using NCS since nRF5SDK is in the maintained mode without features updating anymore.  See  nRF Connect SDK and nRF5 SDK statement 

Regards,
Amanda H. 

[Beemac]

github.com/.../NordicSnippets helped me out a lot, the sdk is great I'm sure, but it sure is a pain to work with!