As a total noob, what language of coding would this cube help me learn? If I bought the assembled kit, downloaded the "terminal" software for it, would I learn how to code or just learn how complex electrical engineering is?
imaherFrom what I can tell, a rainbowduino is basically an arduino with some modifications and software included for controlling LEDs, so programming one would be like programming a normal arduino. Arduinos are programmed with a custom arduino language which is a lot like C++.
Honestly, if you are interested in learning how to program I would recommend starting with simple programs (in a more modern/beginner-friendly language) and not a hardware project. I would not recommend learning C++ as a first language to anyone in this day and age. That said, if you mainly want to play around with some hardware you could probably figure out how to drive the lights on this thing.
imaheras it's a rainbowduino, i'll assume it's based on an arudino. Sketches for arduino are written in c++, but in all honesty, as a beginner, learning basic computer logic and how to write software will be 100x more important than learning a certain language.
Also, since c++ takes a lot from C, you could probably write C with a minimum of issues as well.
kravlinC++ is in fact an extension of C, and any C code should compile using a C++ compiler, unless you use objects or operator overloading C++ is effectively C. Having said that Arduino C++/C is very different from straight AVR C because it abstracts out all the hard stuff (both a good and bad thing).
edit: was wrong, see the reply
ChaosWaffleIt's not an extension. There are cross compatibilities but it is not 100%. Yes, C++ implements most of the stuff that C has in it, but saying "C++ is an extension of C" is doing both languages a disservice and is wrong.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compatibility_of_C_and_C%2B%2B
Honestly, if you are interested in learning how to program I would recommend starting with simple programs (in a more modern/beginner-friendly language) and not a hardware project. I would not recommend learning C++ as a first language to anyone in this day and age. That said, if you mainly want to play around with some hardware you could probably figure out how to drive the lights on this thing.
Also, since c++ takes a lot from C, you could probably write C with a minimum of issues as well.
edit: was wrong, see the reply
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compatibility_of_C_and_C%2B%2B