user83105: I want to get an ATMega328 off of the Digi-Key, and use it like an Arduino (without requiring the whole Arduino board).
When it comes to programming, do I need to do anything special like burn the bootloader onto it or something like that?
I want to use the Arduino IDE to program it.

user10794: At the risk of having my answer closed as "link only" I want to tell you that I have a page describing how to make an Atmega328P into an Arduino-compatible board.
There is far too much detail to post here, but once you have installed your processor with a resistor and a couple of decoupling capacitors you can use another Arduino to burn the bootloader.

Once you have done that you can use an FTDI cable to program your new Arduino-compatible from the Arduino IDE. The cable would be hooked up like this:

Now you can program the chip just using the IDE as if it was a "real" Arduino.

83105: <p>I want to get an ATMega328 off of the Digi-Key, and use it like an Arduino (without requiring the whole Arduino board).</p>
<p>When it comes to programming, do I need to do anything special like burn the bootloader onto it or something like that?</p>
<p>I want to use the Arduino IDE to program it.</p>
 10794: <p>At the risk of having my answer closed as &quot;link only&quot; I want to tell you that I have <a href="http://www.gammon.com.au/forum/?id=11637" rel="nofollow noreferrer">a page describing how to make an Atmega328P into an Arduino-compatible board</a>.</p>
<p>There is far too much detail to post here, but once you have installed your processor with a resistor and a couple of decoupling capacitors you can use another Arduino to burn the bootloader.</p>
<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/3zhtf.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/3zhtf.jpg" alt="Burning the bootloader" /></a></p>
<p>Once you have done that you can use an FTDI cable to program your new Arduino-compatible from the Arduino IDE. The cable would be hooked up like this:</p>
<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/6GiDl.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/6GiDl.jpg" alt="Programming with FTDI cable" /></a></p>
<p>Now you can program the chip just using the IDE as if it was a &quot;real&quot; Arduino.</p>
