How to use digitalWrite Arduino Command

26 - Sep - 2018

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Hey Friends! Hope you are doing well. Today, I'll discuss the details on How to use digitalWrite Arduino Command. The digitalWrite command in Arduino is used for writing the status of the digital Pin. The Pin assigned to this command must be an OUTPUT pin so that it can transfer data to other components like LEDs, motors, and actuators and use them as per your needs and requirements. Arduino boards have always been a great choice for both experts and newbies, as they come with built-in peripheral functions, and no need of external components is required to drive automation and develop some basic functions on the relevant project. Basic Arduino Software is used as a compiler and no separate burner is required to burn the required code into the board. You can simply plug the board with the computer through a USB cable and burn and compile the program by a single click on the software.

How to use digitalWrite Arduino Command

digitalWrite Arduino Command is used to write the status of digital Pins, and can make them either HIGH or LOW. The Pin needs to be an OUTPUT Pin.
We are working on Arduino UNO, that comes with 14 digital I/O pins and 6 analog pins. You can set these pins as an input or output using pinMode based on your technical requirements.

These pins are labeled as 0 to 13 on the board including two serial pins called Tx and Rx appearing at the start and marked as 1 and 0 pins respectively.

We set Pins as an INPUT when we want to read or receive data from some component like sensors. And making pins as an OUTPUT will require a digitalWrite function to write or send data to the required device like LEDs, motors etc.
When any pin is set an as OUTPUT using the pinMode Arduino Command, it will appear as HIGH or LOW depending on the voltage applying on the pin. For voltage above 3.3V it will appear as HIGH and for GND (ground) it will appear as LOW on the software.
Before connecting an LED to pin, make sure to set pinMode as OUTPUT when you call the digitalWrite function, otherwise LED won't be flashing with clear bright light.

Syntax for digitalWrite Arduino

Here’s the syntax used for digitalWrite Arduino command:

digitalWrite(pin, value);

where:

The "pin" defines the Arduino pin number used. It has to be an OUTPUT Pin.
And "value" defines if the pin will be HIGH or LOW.
For example:

digitalWrite(8, HIGH);

Note:

It is worth mentioning here that digitalWrite command doesn’t store or return any value unlike most of the commands used in Arduino that help in storing some value.

Difference between analogWrite and digitalWrite

Both terms analogWrite and digitalWrite are used for same purpose i.e. sending data from Arduino, but:

The former is used to send data in analog form i.e. 0V - 5V.
The later only defines the HIGH and LOW value of the desired pin where HIGH is an indication, pin is getting 5V and LOW is an indication pin is set to ground or zero voltage.

That's all for today. I hope you have found this article informative. If you are unsure or have any question, you can ask me in the comment section below. I'd love to help you according to the best of my expertise. You are most welcome to keep us updated with your valuable feedback and suggestion - they help us provide you quality work so you keep coming back every now and then. Thanks for reading the article.