Raspberry Pi 3 in easy steps

Mike McGrath

• Editorial: In Easy Steps Limited
• Año: 2016
• ISBN:
  9781840787368

Raspberry Pi 3 in Easy Steps starts with the basic components you’ll need, setting up the system and logging into the console. Then, in easy steps, it introduces you to the Raspbian operating system that is optimized for the Raspberry Pi. You'll learn how to customize the look and feel of your system, how to navigate the file system, and how to use the powerful system 'shell’ to make things happen for you. The new GPIO interface is fully described, and the new NOOBS installer is also described for setup.This guide enables complete beginners to create their very own computer programs with the Scratch visual programming environment. It also instructs programming in the high-level (human-readable) Python programming language language, which is processed by the Python 'interpreter’ to produce results fast. Examples demonstrate how to use the included Python 'pygame’ module, to make your own games, and how to use the included 'Tkinter’ module to create graphical windowed apps. Raspberry Pi 3 in Easy Steps also illustrates how to control electrical input and output on the Raspberry Pi header from Python scripts, including lighting a lamp, adding more buttons and controlling projects. With the knowledge gained from this book, the reader can confidently advance to any future electronic Raspberry Pi project or other explore other programming environments. Covers the latest versions of Python.

1

Getting started

Welcome to the exciting world of the Raspberry Pi. This chapter demonstrates how to establish a fully functional computer system.

Introducing Raspberry Pi

Gathering the components

Setting up the SD card

Configuring the system

Logging into the console

Starting the desktop

Automating the login

Summary

Introducing Raspberry Pi

The Raspberry Pi is an inexpensive computer built on a single printed-circuit board. It was developed in the UK by the Raspberry Pi Foundation to encourage the teaching of basic computer science in schools and to put the fun back into learning about computing. The foundation recognized that the school ICT curriculum had changed, placing emphasis on the use of applications, such as Word and Excel, or to writing web pages. Additionally, they noticed that the home PC and games console had replaced the Amigas, BBC Micros, Spectrum ZX and Commodore 64 machines that people of an earlier generation learned to program on. Nowadays, young people have become merely passive users of computers who the foundation considers could benefit from knowing how computers work and how to program them – so they created the cheap, accessible Raspberry Pi computer.

Discover more about Raspberry Pi online at raspberrypi.org

In order to keep the price low, the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B has some innovative design features:

•At its heart is an ARM processor that has System-on-Chip (SoC) architecture to integrate several traditionally separate components onto a single chip. The ARM processor runs at 1.2GHz. Typically, ARM processors have previously been used mainly in cellphones.

•Unlike traditional computer design, the Raspberry Pi does not have a hard drive but instead employs a Micro SD card to contain the operating system and to store the files you create. The operating system can be one of several specially optimized variants of the Linux operating system or Windows 10 IoT.

•The Raspberry Pi 3 Model B has a total memory of just 1GB – which is small compared to that of today’s traditional computers. Even with this limitation, surprisingly good performance is achieved as neither the processor nor the operating system are “memory hungry”. This in turn allows programs running on the Raspberry Pi to use very low amounts of memory.

•Most noticeably, each Raspberry Pi is supplied without a case so it can be easily built into another device, such as a monitor, and its components can be easily identified.

The choice of Linux distributions optimized for the Raspberry Pi are described here.

Raspbe...

Índice

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Preface
• 1 Getting started
• 2 Exploring the desktop
• 3 Commanding the system
• 4 Animating with Scratch
• 5 Programming with Python
• 6 Importing modules
• 7 Producing games
• 8 Developing windowed apps
• 9 Driving header pins
• Back Cover