Getting Started with Raspberry Pi (eBook)

Richard Wentk is a developer with more than 15 years of experience and is one of the UK's most reliable technology writers. He is also the author of Raspberry Pi For Kids For Dummies and Teach Yourself VISUALLY Raspberry Pi.

Introduction: About raspberry pi 1

About This Book 1

About You 2

Icons Used in This Book 3

Where to Go from Here 3

Project 1: Pick Up Pi Parts 4

Understanding the Pi System 4

Picking a Pi Model 5

Understanding Must-Have Extras 6

Picking Nice-to-Have Extras 14

Collecting Parts the Lazy Way: Starter Kits 19

Project 2: Power on Your?@Pi 21

Finding and Recognizing Parts 21

Setting Up Your Pi System 22

Setting up Desks and Chairs 22

Making the Connections 23

Getting Ready to Turn on the Pi 26

Lights! Camera! Action! 27

Setting Up the Pi 27

Booting into Raspbian 31

Looking at the Desktop 32

Project 3: Start Scratch from Scratch 37

Understanding Scratch 37

Connecting Blocks and Making Scripts 39

Finding and Starting Scratch 39

Looking Around Scratch 40

Understanding the Stage 42

Moving a Sprite with Go To 43

Making a Simple Script 46

Controlling a Script 49

Making a Simple Bounce Script 53

Introducing Variables 54

Project 4: Meet Sonic Pi 62

Getting Started with Sonic Pi 63

Setting Up Sound on the Pi 64

Playing Tunes with Sonic Pi 66

Taking a Guided Tour 69

Understanding Notes 74

Making Different Sounds 76

Making More Complicated Music 79

Project 5: Pick Up Python 83

Meet Python 84

Remember Information 90

Use the Shell and the Editor 95

Learning More Python 101

Project 6: Master Minecraft with Python 106

Getting Started with Minecraft 106

Exploring the World 107

Understanding APIS 110

Using the Minecraft API 113

Project 7: More Things to See and Do 119

Scratch 119

Sonic Pi 120

Python Projects 121

Minecraft and Python 122