I have been reading some tutorials online and looking at doing stuff with shift registers. I see that the 74hc595 circuit/chip is in the DIP packaging, which is good for my skills. I like using breadboards.
I am wondering about the other parts that are out there that start with 74. Do I need to learn more about these? Are they still used in other placed in electronics? I was watching Afrotechmods video about the really high speed potato ones as well.
I love his channel
Everything digital used to be constructed of either 74 series or 4000 series logic devices. While more integrated types of logic (microcontrollers, CPLDs, FPGAs, microprocessors and the like) have taken over the major control tasks, the discrete digital logic families are still useful, and available.
Trying to list parts to learn about doesn’t make a lot of sense though, there are hundreds. More important is to learn what types of things are available. The logic families include basic boolean functions (AND, OR, XOR, NOT, etc.), different types of flip-flops and registers (like the 595), and a whole slew of specialized logic operations. A good book on digital electronics is invaluable and it’s amazing how much you can learn by just searching through the parts lists at your favorite distributor and glancing at the data sheets of any parts that catch your fancy.
Cheers,
Martin Jay McKee