Book of the month… September 2015

Raspberry Pi for Dummies by Sean McManus and Mike Cook

One of the most endearing qualities about the low-cost Raspberry Pi computer is its broad range of applications. From its original aim of inspiring children into computing, to its use in products and manufacturing, this flexible and accessible hardware is seeing inventive people finding new uses for it every day.

Luckily for the uninitiated, Raspberry Pi for Dummies does an outstanding job of accompanying their first steps into the world of computing. Readers wishing to build on existing knowledge will be equally well served. For tasks ranging from taking the barebones computer out of the box and installing its Linux operating system to rudimentary electronics projects, instructions and descriptions are clear and concise. The reader is gently taken from subject to subject, with each piece of knowledge appreciated as a small victory. Early milestones are the set-up and running of free applications, such as word processors, media centres and photo-editing software. Later successes include coding projects for children and the installation of the Minecraft game. 

If there is a criticism, it is that it’s hard to make lines of programming code entertaining, although they are kept to a minimum. There also isn’t much troubleshooting help.

All the information in this book can be found for free online, but not in a single, so easily accessible place. So for many, especially those wanting to understand computers for the first time, the extra for this manual will be money well spent.

Raspberry Pi for Dummies by Sean McManus and Mike Cook, published by John Wiley, RRP £17.99