Universal asynchronous receiver/transmitter

Do you know how sometimes you send a message to your friend through your phone? And your friend can reply back to you? Well, imagine if your phone was talking to your computer instead of your friend. That's kind of like what a universal asynchronous receiver/transmitter, or UART for short, does.

A UART is a special chip that helps your computer talk to other devices like your phone, printer, or even a robot. It helps your computer send messages out and receive messages back in return. But the cool thing is that it can talk to these devices even if they're not always ready to listen or respond right away.

You can think of a UART as a very patient person. It doesn't mind waiting to hear back from someone before sending another message. And if the other person doesn't respond right away, the UART will still remember what it said and try again later when the other person is ready to listen.

The reason it's called "asynchronous" is because it doesn't rely on a clock or a strict timing schedule to send messages. It can send and receive information at different times, like when you're listening to music on your phone and texting your friend at the same time.

Overall, a UART just helps your computer talk to other devices more easily and without worrying too much about timing or interruptions.