OMG, y'all!

I'm like, totally stoked to be talkin' about Embedded Systems here! I've been diggin' deep into this stuff and I gotta say, it's like, whoa!

So, I'm tryin' to get my head around this whole "microcontroller" thing... like, what's the diff between a micro and a mini? And don't even get me started on the whole "firmware" vs "software" thing... I mean, I thought they were like, the same thing, but apparently not

Has anyone else been messin' around with this stuff? I'm tryin' to build this little project, like, a robotic arm or somethin', and I need some serious guidance, stat!

Also, can someone please explain to me why we gotta use C for embedded systems? Like, what's wrong with, say, Python or Java? I mean, I know it's cuz of the whole "resource-constrained" thing, but still... it's like, soooo limiting

Anyway, hit me up with some answers, y'all! I'm dyin' over here!

P.S. If anyone knows where I can score some sick, cheap dev boards, that'd