Preface
Are you interested in the myriad features of your Raspberry Pi 2? From the hardware to the software, do you wish to understand how you can interact with these features?
Then this is the book for you!
The Raspberry Pi 2 is one of the latest hardware offerings in the Raspberry Pi family. With many new and improved features than previous versions, there is so much more an enthusiast can do.
This book will walk you through how you can get the most out of your device.
You will learn about how to program on the Raspberry Pi using the Assembly language, Python, and C/C++. This will include building a web server in Python and saving data to an SQLite database. Ever wondered what threads are? These are covered here too.
In addition to this, you will explore the various types of GPIO pins and how these can be used to interact with third party microcontrollers and electronic circuits.
The sound and graphics capabilities of the Raspberry Pi 2 are also experimented with through a number of projects. And to expand the Raspberry Pi's storage option, we will also set up an external HDD via USB.
Finally, the book concludes with a project that brings together many of the technologies explained throughout the chapters.
By the time you finish reading this book, you'll have a firm knowledge of the Raspberry Pi 2 and how you can devise your own projects that use its capabilities.
What this book covers
Chapter 1, Introduction to the Raspberry Pi's Architecture and Setup, provides an introduction to the Raspberry Pi and its hardware architecture. We will explore the various hardware components in detail, and this will provide a basis for the programming projects in future chapters. A quick guide to getting Raspbian installed and SSH enabled is also provided.
Chapter 2, Programming on Raspbian, provides an introduction to the programming languages used in this book. An explanation will be provided of which language is used and why. This chapter will also guide you through setting up the tools for Assembler, C/C++, and Python. Three introduction programs will then be walked through to give you the opportunity to test that your setup works.
Chapter 3, Low-Level Development with Assembly Language, explores programming in the Raspbian operating system using the Assembler programming language.
Chapter 4, Multithreaded Applications with C/C++, having looked at Assembler, we move up the programming hierarchy to C/C++. We learn how to write multithreaded applications and understand their usefulness. Through these applications, we learn more about the multi-core CPU of the Raspberry Pi 2.
Chapter 5, Expanding on Storage Options, offers a guide to expanding the storage options of the Raspberry Pi beyond the SD card.
Chapter 6, Low-Level Graphics Programming, shows you how to interact with the graphics hardware on the Raspberry Pi 2. Here you will learn how to draw to the screen via the frame buffer.
Chapter 7, Exploring the Raspberry Pi's GPIO Pins, shows you how to interact with electronic components using the Raspberry PI's GPIO pins. Here we look at how Python libraries can be used to simplify the process.
Chapter 8, Exploring Sound with the Raspberry Pi 2, gives an introduction to the basics of sound programming using the Raspberry Pi's hardware. Learn about live coding via the Sonic-Pi IDE to generate your own algorithmic music.
Chapter 9, Building a Web Server, expands upon your knowledge of Python to build a web server via Flask. This chapter explores the Ethernet and Wi-Fi capabilities of the Raspberry Pi for delivering web-based applications. In this chapter, you will also learn about using SQLite to store data and display it via a web page. Topics covered also include Apache and NGINX.
Chapter 10, Integrating with Third-Party Microcontrollers, in this chapter we learn how to interact with third-party microcontrollers such as the Arduino. These devices can form the basis of robotics projects and augment the abilities of the Raspberry Pi.
Chapter 11, Final Project, will conclude the book with a final project that brings together many of the topics explored throughout previous chapters.
What you need for this book
The following list provides an overview of the recommended and optional hardware needed for the projects in this book. Where hardware is needed for a specific chapter, the relevant chapter is listed:
Raspberry Pi 2.
USB keyboard.
HDMI monitor.
USB mouse.
MicroSD card.
Wall power unit for the Raspberry Pi 2.
A working Internet connection.
A selection of wires for connecting to the GPIO pins; 12 recommended for Chapter 7, Exploring the Raspberry Pi's GPIO pins, Chapter 10, Integrating with Third-Party Microcontrollers, and Chapter 11, Final Project.
An LED for Chapter 7, Exploring the Raspberry Pi's GPIO pins and Chapter 11, Final Project.
1.6K, 3.3k Ohm resistor for Chapter 10, Integrating with Third-Party Microcontrollers.
270 Ohm resistor for Chapter 7, Exploring the Raspberry Pi's GPIO pins and Chapter 11, Final Project.
USB hard drive for Chapter 5, Expanding on Storage Options.
Cooking Hacks Raspberry Pi to Arduino Bridge Shield or Pi Cobbler. These are optional and not necessary, as the breadboard can replace these.
Breadboard. Only required if not using a third-party shield. Needed for Chapter 7, Exploring the Raspberry Pi's GPIO pins, Chapter 10, Integrating with Third-Party Microcontrollers, and Chapter 11, Final Project.
Arduino Uno. Needed for Chapter 10, Integrating with Third-Party Microcontrollers.
USB cable to connect Arduino to Raspberry Pi. Needed for Chapter 10, Integrating with Third-Party Microcontrollers.
Who this book is for
Are you interested in the architecture that forms the Raspberry Pi 2? Would you like to learn how its components work through interactive projects?
This book provides a hands-on guide to the Raspberry Pi 2's hardware and software. Each chapter builds upon the last to develop applications and electronics that leverage many of the features of the Raspberry Pi 2. From programming sound to integrating with third party microcontrollers, it's all covered here.
Aimed at the Raspberry Pi enthusiast, this is a perfect introductory text on how to get the most out of your new device.
While understanding programming concepts is helpful, no prior knowledge of the programming languages covered in this book is required.
Some simple electronics projects are included but no soldering is required.
Conventions
In this book, you will find a number of text styles that distinguish between different kinds of information. Here are some examples of these styles and an explanation of their meaning.
Code words in text, database table names, folder names, filenames, file extensions, pathnames, dummy URLs, user input, and Twitter handles are shown as follows: "The cd command allows you to change directories."
A block of code is set as follows:
int main(void)
{
int a;
printf("Please input an integer: ");
scanf("%d", &a);
printf("You entered the number: %d\n", a);
return 0;
}Any command-line input or output is written as follows:
mv /home/pi/test.txt /home/pi/test2.txt
New terms and important words are shown in bold. Words that you see on the screen, for example, in menus or dialog boxes, appear in the text like this: "Click on the Generate button."
Note
Warnings or important notes appear in a box like this.
Tip
Tips and tricks appear like this.
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