Kids are lucky these days.  Hardware is cheap and heavily abstracted in software. USB to TTL serial about $2 AUD. A knock-off Arduino Nano for $4 AUD both with shipping included. Took about 5 mins to get a push button flashing LEDs and sending a message on serial. You can count the lines of code on two hands. Beats the hell out of writing 300 lines of assembler. (but it isn't as fun)