GETTING STARTED WITH RASPBERRY PI®

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John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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Copyright © 2016 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, NJ

Published simultaneously in Canada

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2016933429

ISBN: 978-1-119-26265-7 (pbk); 978-1-119-26266-4 (ebk); 978-1-119-26267-1 (ebk)

ABOUT THIS BOOK

The good news is that in some ways, the Pi is very easy to use. But it wouldn’t be fair to pretend that it’s always simple.

In other ways, it can be harder to manage than a Mac or a PC. Because it’s hands-on, you sometimes have to think harder about what you’re doing.

But the Pi is really good for learning how computers work on the inside and for building simple software and hardware projects. It’s also good for learning more about learning, which means finding out how to do your own research on the Internet.

This book is your guide to the fascinating world waiting for you inside your Pi. You can use it to learn:

• Why the Raspberry Pi is special
• What parts you need to add to a Pi to make it work and how much they cost
• Where to find the latest free software for your Pi
• How to power up and power down a Pi
• How to start using the Linux operating system
• What you can do with Scratch, a simple programming system
• Why the Sonic Pi music programming system is a ton of fun
• How to write code and draw pictures using the popular Python language
• How you can use Python to control your character in the Pi version of Minecraft

ABOUT YOU

Getting Started with Raspberry Pi makes some guesses about what you know already.

• You don’t need to know anything about code or be a computer genius. But you need some basic computer skills, like the ones on this list:
  1. You can use a Mac or a PC or maybe even a Linux computer.
  2. You’re comfortable with a mouse and keyboard, and you can find your way around your computer’s desktop.
  3. You’re not scared of plugging together computer parts to add extras.
  4. You’re fine with using Google or some other search engine to look up things on the Internet.
• You have a little (but not much) cash to spare. Fifty dollars will cover most of what you need, and $100 will cover everything easily.
• You know some basic math, and you’re not too scared of adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing. (You don’t have to be brilliant at doing them in your head. That’s what computers are for!)

ICONS USED IN THIS BOOK

Some of the pages of this book have little round pictures at the sides. Here’s what they mean:

Tips make your life easier. You’ll want to take advantage of them.

When you see this icon, pay special attention, because it points out information you don’t want to forget.

This text warns you of things that can go wrong … so be careful!

WHERE TO GO FROM HERE

You can read this book in any order that makes sense to you. You can flip through it to find new ideas or go through it in order.

I recommend you work through at least the first couple of projects in order. If you’re new to the Raspberry Pi, those early projects have everything you need to get started.

The rest is up to you. Good luck — and don’t forget to have fun and do cool things!