- ORDERS ON HOLD
Orders are currently on-hold while a fully updated version 3.0 is being developed.
The current version is available to download for FREE for Bluetooth Developer Academy members.
Join today and get immediate access.
Developers Guide
Developers, learn BLE fast with the up-to-date, practical guide to Bluetooth 5.
- Learn by doing: Get hands-on with a complete home automation project using the latest nRF5 SDK.
- Get unstuck: Stop slogging through out-of-date blog posts and get up to speed with a concise, practical handbook.
- Video tutorials: Watch as an expert shows you how to set up your development & debugging environment and more (optional).

A Developer’s Guide is the missing handbook for rapid BLE development.
Skip the time-suck blog posts and level up your learning fast.
Learning Bluetooth can be hard.
Especially when you’re on a deadline and trying to ship.
Blog posts are often out of date and skip over core concepts. They get you started but leave you stranded when development becomes challenging.
Then it’s endless Googling, Stack Overflow threads, and… the spec. Let’s face it: trying to get things done and having to read the spec is, well, awful.
Fragmented, incomplete, out-of-date blog posts on the one hand.
A dense, time-consuming, hard-to-read spec on the other.
No wonder it’s such a struggle to learn.
And that’s exactly where Bluetooth 5 & Bluetooth Low Energy: A Developer’s Guide comes in. It’s the missing guide that helps developers like you get $%^& done.
A Developer’s Guide is designed specifically for professional developers who are getting started with – or stuck in the middle of – Bluetooth development and want to get up to speed fast by working through a real-world project.
Want the skills to develop BLE applications quickly and confidently? A Developer’s Guide will give you a deeper understanding of everything from development setup and debugging to security, throughput, the new mesh standard, and a whole lot more.
Shortcut your BLE learning. Purchase A Developer’s Guide today.

Why learn BLE the hard way when you can get expert help instead?
Learn from an expert with a practical, hands-on, end-to-end home automation project.

I’m Mohammad Afaneh, the author of Bluetooth 5 & BLE: A Developer’s Guide, and Founder of Novel Bits.
I’ve been on your journey.
I’ve gone from Bluetooth beginner to expert. I’ve spent years working on multiple IoT products like door locks, satellite receivers, doorbells, and many (many!) side projects.
You might ask “What makes you qualified as a Bluetooth Expert”?
I’ve felt the pain of the often enormous Bluetooth learning curve.
I learned the hard way, wasting days and weeks getting up to speed while struggling with poor or non-existent resources.
That’s why I wrote Bluetooth 5 & Bluetooth Low Energy: A Developer’s Guide – so you don’t have to learn the hard way, and can level up in no time instead.
I’ve put everything I learned into this book so that developers like you can build things the right way and ship on time without all the headaches and stress.
It’s the book I wish I had when I was trying to make the leap from theory to practice.
I’m a big believer in learning by doing. That’s why I’ve organized the book around a practical, real-world home automation project involving sensors, a light bulb, and your own remote control implementation. See the topics we’ll cover below.
I’d love for you to check out the book and let me know what you think. My number one priority is to get you up to speed with BLE’s best practices so you’re equipped to tackle your projects confidently and quickly… and ship on time.
Sound good? Grab your copy today.
Here’s exactly what you’ll learn
Learn how to build a full BLE home automation system involving sensors, a light bulb and your own remote control implementation.
Development setup
Multiple device connections
New Bluetooth 5 features
Security & encryption
Design patterns
Navigating the official spec
Throughput & data transfer
Testing & debugging
Low power consumption
Is Bluetooth 5 & BLE: A Developer's Guide right for me?
Whether you’re a pro developer, hobbyist, or just interested in understanding the fundamentals of BLE, there’s something for you.
Professional embedded developers, this is the book for you. Get up to speed fast, ship on time, and stay under budget.
Hobbyist developers, think of all the cool things you’ll be able to play with: lighting, home automation, and more.
Just curious? Know a bit of C? You’ll still learn the basics, but best to start with my Introduction to BLE book.

Bluetooth 5 Book Chapters
Here’s everything we’ll cover in Bluetooth 5 & Bluetooth Low Energy: A Developer’s Guide.
- Basics of Bluetooth Low Energy
- BLE Peripherals and Centrals
- Advertising and Scanning
- Connections
- Services and Characteristics
- GATT Design Guidelines
- GAP Design Guidelines
- GitHub Repository
- Introduction to the nRF5 SDK
- Development Environment Setup
- Main Project Structure
- nRF Development & Troubleshooting Tips
- The “Hello World” Example
- Bluetooth 5
- Power Consumption
- Security
- Debugging & Testing BLE Applications
- Reverse Engineering a Bluetooth Lightbulb
- How to Choose a BLE Module/Chipset
- Navigating the Bluetooth Specification
- The Bluetooth Certification Process
- Remote Control Source Code Walkthrough
- Gateway Source Code Walkthrough
- Using nRF Cloud as the Internet Gateway
- Glossary
- References and Resources
Video tutorials
Over three hours of practical step-by-step video tutorials. Available in the Accelerator Bundle.
- Segger Embedded Studio Setup (Windows)
- Segger Embedded Studio Setup (Linux)
- Debugging nRF52 in Segger Embedded Studio
- nRF Connect (Mobile + Desktop) Tutorial
- nRF Sniffer (Wireshark) Tutorial
- Nordic Power Profiler Kit (PPK) Tutorial
- Navigating the Bluetooth Specification Document
- Bonus Video: Bluetooth 5 Long Range Example
- Bonus Video: BLE Security Example
- Bonus Video: nRF Cloud Connectivity Example
- Videos are available in the Accelerator bundle.
Purchase your Copy Today
Orders are currently on-hold while a fully updated version 3.0 is being developed.
The current version is available to download for FREE for Bluetooth Developer Academy members.
Join today and get immediate access.
Bluetooth Developer Academy
A private membership for Bluetooth developers.
- Training: BLE courses and advanced nRF52 tutorials added on a monthly basis (e.g. Analysis of BLE events, Coded PHY long-range mode, nRF52 OTA DFU, Zephyr, the new nRF5340 chipset, and more).
- Private community: Interact and connect with other BLE developers including innovators, BLE mobile app developers, and even experts from BLE chipset vendors.
- Private support: get private support from me within the Academy.
FAQs
This book is for any developer who has some basic understanding of embedded development and is looking to learn BLE.
The book will also be helpful if you know the basics of BLE on the mobile side and you want to learn more about the embedded side.
If you’re not happy with the book for any reason please contact me within 14 days of purchase and I’ll gladly refund your money.
It is not for someone with zero knowledge of software development and no experience with C-based development for microcontrollers.
It’s not for the general hobbyist unless you have some software development experience and you’re willing to learn through additional resources as well.
All exercises and software tutorials are meant to run on all major operating systems (Windows, Linux, and macOS).
With the use of Segger Embedded Studio, you’ll be able to set up your development environment and start developing on any operating system of your choice.
If you’re looking to purchase this for a team of developers please contact me and I’ll provide you with options for a site-wide license.
Contact me to see how this can fit as the perfect material for a lab on wireless technologies and embedded systems.
I guarantee you this book will serve as one of the most practical and industry-applicable classes they will take!
Don’t see an answer to your question?