Nobody suggested the Arduino as a learning micro controller platform?
It is the cheapest and fastest way to program PWM to control LED brightness.
Other than the FPGA, the only other platforms that were mentioned in an unofficial capacity was PIC and ARM.
Op was curious about 'projects', not the actual architecture.
Of course there are tons of options available all with pros and cons from AVRs to the Xilinx FPGAs. (Couldn't think of something that started with Y, or Z)
I try to strongly discourage recommending Arduino as the go-to for learning microcontrollers. It's great for beginners who are looking to get a project done as quick as they can but the whole Arduino+Shield thing makes it seems a little like lego. Rather than building or programming something from scratch the use of templates, libraries, and pre-made circuits are the norm which I feel circumvents the actual learning process of how things actually work.
Of course, this is only my view, but I would like to encourage people how to walk rather than start them out running if they have no idea what a NOP is.
