Because all the libraries provide a compatible, consistent API, it will seem like you're using the same library for all your boards, but if you peek at the source code, you might find it's significantly different from one library to another.Īn easy way to find the location of the Wire library for the board you have currently selected in the IDE is to open one of the Wire library's example sketches, then use the Sketch > Show sketch folder menu to open the example sketch's folder. But if you're using a board of a different architecture, such as the MKR Zero (Arduino SAMD Boards platform), or the Nano Every (Arduino megaAVR Boards platform), then that library won't be used and the Wire library in use will be in a different location.

The path UKHeliBob provided is the version bundled with the copy of the Arduino AVR Boards platform that comes with the Arduino IDE.

The reason you won't find the platform bundled libraries listed in Arduino Library manager is because these libraries are distributed along with the boards platforms and it wouldn't really make sense to distribute the libraries by themselves (because you will often need to have multiple versions installed at the same time).Įach boards platform bundles its own version of the Wire library. In the case of libraries providing essential capabilities, such as Wire, it makes the most sense to provide the library along with the boards platform that adds Arduino support for that architecture. Some libraries are very architecture-specific, so that the code is very much written for a certain family of microcontrollers. Wire is what's known as a 'platform bundled library'.

Get wire library arduino