Arduino consists of two parts: hardware (various models of Arduino boards) and software (Arduino IDE). The hardware part is an Arduino PCB that can be used to connect circuits; the software part is the open-source and cross-platform Arduino IDE (written in Java, based on Processing programming language and other open-source software) - your programming environment in computer that can be used with any Arduino boards. All you have to do is write the code in Arduino IDE, and upload it to the Arduino development board, then the program will tell Arduino PCB what to do and how to do.

Proteus (AKA: Proteus Design Suite) is a well-known EDA (Electronic Design Automation) simulation software, developed by Labcenter Electronics from United Kingdom. Furthermore, it is also the only one design platform integrating circuit simulation software, PCB design software, and virtual model simulation software in one place. That means it can help users truly implement a complete design from concept to product.