Embedded Systems Bare-Metal Programming Ground Up™ (STM32) (Udemy.com)
No Libraries used, Professional CMSIS Standard, ARM Cortex, ADC,UART,TIMERS, DMA,SPI,I2C,RTC,GPIO etc.
Created by: Israel Gbati
Last updated October 2023
What you will learn
- Write firmware using only bare-metal embedded-c
- Understand the Cortex-M Architecture
- Write Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC) drivers using bare-metal embedded-c
- Write PWM drivers using bare-metal embedded-c
- Write UART drivers using bare-metal embedded-c
- Write TIMER drivers using bare-metal embedded-c
- Write Interrupt drivers using bare-metal embedded-c
- Write SPI drivers using bare-metal embedded-c
- Write I2C drivers using bare-metal embedded-c
- Master the ARM-Cortex CMSIS standard
- Write DMA drivers using bare-metal embedded-c
- Build every single line of code from scratch by writing to the microcontroller’s memory space directly.
- Use No third party libraries or header files
- Understand and write every single line of code yourself- no Copy/Paste
- Use the debugger effectively to analyze and resolve any bugs
How it compares
Against the other 518 rated Udemy courses in Software Development on CourseDuck:
- Rating4.6 out of 5higher than 62% of them
- Reviews3,916#44 of 519 by number of reviews
- Length24.6 hourslonger than 89% of them
- Last updatedOctober 2023earlier than 77% of them
Course Description
Are you tired of Copying and Pasting code you don't understand?
With a programming based approach, this course is designed to give you a solid foundation in bare-metal firmware development for ARM-based microcontrollers . The goal of this course is to teach you how to navigate the microcontroller reference manual and datasheet to extract the right information to professionally build peripheral drivers and firmware. To achieve this goal, no libraries are used in this course, purely bare-metal embedded-c and register manipulations.
Still keeping it simple, this course comes in different ARM Cortex-M development boards so that students can put the techniques to practice using an ARM Cortex-M development board of their choice. This version of the course uses the STMicroelectronics STM32F4-NUCLEO which has an ARM Cortex-M4 microcontoller.
So with that understood, let me tell you…
Exactly What You’re Getting
This is dramatically different from any course you have ever taken because it’s more of a professional hands-on “field guide” to stm32 bare metal firmware development.
The reason why is because there’s no fluff or filler. It immediately gets down to the actual subject, showing you exactly what to do, how to do it, and why.
Plus, it’s easy.
And you’ll immediately “get” the entire mythology I personally use to build firmware for consumer devices in my professional life.
It's About MORE Than Just Getting the Code to Work
See, this course will change your professional life forever. Here is what one student had to say about the course :
"I would suggest this course for all the beginners. The concepts have been covered in the right sequence.And also the best part of this lecture series is getting to know how to explore the reference manual and datasheets."
Here is what another student had to say :
"Extremly helpful to get to understand the uC programming deeper! For me it is much easier from now to develop code because I undertstand the base behind, so I'm more confident and more experienced to develop and debug the code. Really, this course is very useful to link the hardware knowledge with the coding skills. This fills the gap between them. Thanks for it! :)"
A third student :
"I am a professional semiconductor chipset application engineer with 30 years in global embedded product design in system applications. I can say this teacher is very straight forward by sharing his many years knowledge to the students with his true heart. Yes. I love his teaching pace and style!"
Taken by 8000+ Students with 1000+ Reviews
If at least one of the following applies to you then keep reading if not then simply skip this course:
" Escape From "
Copying/Pasting code you don’t understand
Using third party libraries and header files like HAL, LL and StdPeriph
Experiencing bugs you don’t understand
Being afraid of technical documentations like the reference manual and datasheet of the chip
Imposter syndrome
" Arrive At "
Building every single line of code from scratch by writing to the microcontroller’s memory space directly.
Using No third party libraries or header files
Understanding and writing every single line of code yourself- no Copy/Paste
Using the debugger effectively to analyze and resolve any bugs
Developing proficiency in your embedded development skills and confidently take the next steps
So like I said, there’s more than just getting each piece of code to work.
Here’s an overview of what you’re getting...
Analyzing the chip documentations:
Before developing the firmware for any chip you have to learn how to read the documentation provided by the chip manufacturer.
Defining Peripheral address
All components on the microcontroller have an address range. To write to a component or read from a component you need to locate its address range in the documentation and properly define the addresses in your code.
Creating registers from the address:
The addresses in the address range of a component represent the registers of that component. To access these registers you have effectively typecast the addresses.
Understanding CMSIS:
Cortex-Microcontroller Interface Standard (CMSIS)CMSIS is a standard developed by Arm for all Cortex-Microcontrollers. This is the standard used in professional firmware development
But it gets better because you’re also getting…
Deep Lessons on Developing Peripheral Drivers
You will learn how to develop bare-metal drivers for the following peripherals :
Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC)
Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI)
Inter-Integrated Circuit (I2C)
Direct Memory Access (DMA)
Nested Vector Interrupt Controller (NVIC)
General Purpose Timers (TIM)
System Tick Timer (SysTick)
General Purpose Input/Output (GPIO)
Specially Designed For People Who Hate Copy/Paste
Listen. If you don’t like “Copy/Paste” you’re not alone. I can’t stand it either. I’d literally rather have a piece of code that I wrote from scratch that doesn’t work than someone else’s working code I copied and pasted.
And that’s why I’ve spent months designing and recording this course in which I show you how to locate every single register used and the meaning of every hexadecimal value written into the register.
Also it comes with a money back guarantee so you have nothing to loose.
Instructor Details
- 4.6 Rating
3,916 Reviews
Israel Gbati
Author of Bare-Metal Embedded C Programming: Develop High-Performance Embedded Systems with C for Arm Microcontrollers.
With extensive experience in embedded firmware development, I specialize in real-time systems, low-level programming, medical device architecture, embedded signal processing, and embedded AI. My professional journey has been centered around Arm Cortex-Microcontrollers, delivering robust solutions used in cutting-edge industries.
Passionate about simplifying complex concepts.
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Reviews
By Divya Lingutla on 8/31/2026
i have watched all the videos thoroughly and understood most of the parts,but the concern is that while explaining the concept i didn't get to know detailed explanation regarding the registers which are being used...so i would request to please think of it and give better solution in coding applications..whatever taught
By Hareesh Aravind on 6/20/2026
One thing that prevents me from providing 5 stars is in depth explanation of why some code lines exist. Instructor is adding few lines/calling some functions for ex : void USART2_IRQHandler(void). I've been spending a considerable amount of time on device driver development particularly for STM32 and becoz of this I'm able to understand that the mentioned function is from CMSIS. A beginner will never understand this. Also there are many instances where spoon feeding is needed (explaining why a particular line of code exists) for beginners. Apart from this, its a great course Edit: But I actually gave 5 stars considering his depth and knowledge plus his ability to teach.
By Kithinjitron on 4/7/2026
I have learnt a lot. It seems purposeful that the course owner is leaving many parts out for us to pick up and do by ourselves and the basics he gives us are sufficient for that. Luckily also the old course explains more stuff in some sections. Bravo.
By AGBLEKE Teotim on 1/21/2026
This course on bare-metal STM32 development is very enriching. It helped me move from copy-paste coding to understanding datasheets, reference manuals, and technical documentation. Even with my intermediate level of English, the instructor’s explanations make everything clear and easy to follow.
By Collin Stinson on 1/19/2026
Covers a lot of information. I wish Israel had included some of the old material into the new material. Good reference of the material. One improvement would be to include more timing diagrams on communication protocols (easier to understand what's going on under the hood). Overall, I'm very pleased.
By Darren Brock on 1/16/2026
Great course. Went from no knowledge of STM32 microcontrollers to building a couple projects using STM32 controllers.
By Arun Felix on 1/12/2026
I never thought I'd be able to do bare metal programming. I understand that majority of embedded programming is looking at the datasheet, but I didn't really understand what to look for. For example, I didn't know you had to enable the GPIO clocks with the IOPENR registers.
By Robert Hayward on 1/11/2026
Brilliant. For me, getting away from Arduino IDE is great because I'm a control freak and I want my projects to be lean and also I'd like to know all that is going on. I've nothing against Arduino IDE but so much is hidden. This is a great peek behind the curtain at the nuts and bolts of uPs.
By Konrad Korzeniowski on 12/1/2025
The course feels like a trimmed‑down version of the tutor’s Embedded C Programming book, and it carries over the same shortcomings. The code examples are decent, but the explanations don’t go into enough depth. On top of that, the UART, I2C, and SPI drivers are all implemented in a blocking style, which isn’t a great approach to teach beginners. It encourages habits that don’t scale well and don’t expose learners to more practical non‑blocking or interrupt‑driven designs used in real embedded systems.
By Raimundo Nonato Pimenta Filho on 10/22/2025
Parte realmente do zero, e mostra os passos, como encontrar informação na documentação. Muito bom. Obrigado.
Quality Score
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Overall Score : 92 / 100









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