Product: 1449344216

I purchased and read the Kindle version of this book and was extremely pleased with it. As others have noted, Richardson’s clear and concise delivery of what can be complicated subject matter make this book an indispensable entry point for new Pi users. As a software developer who has worked in the Linux environment for more than a decade, I was largely familiar with much of the material. Regardless, I was introduced to some very useful features of the Linux OS that I was not previously aware of. Much of the material is high-level (as it should be), but it prevents the reader from getting bogged down in underlying theory that can be explored later on.

The introductory chapters that cover setup of the Pi are very helpful and Richardson does a good job of exposing a veritable minefield of beginner gotchas like preventing board-frying mistakes when working with GPIO pins, selecting the appropriate power supplies, etc. This book deals primarily with the Raspbian OS and the projects make use of the Python programming language and modules. I was a bit put off by the latter point since I prefer to work with the C languages, Java, and Perl. However, Python is certainly the best choice for beginners in terms of accessibility and the scope of capabilities that are provided from a wealth of available modules for every conceivable application. As far as OSs, Richardson does provide a short but useful survey of alternatives that includes their backgrounds, applications, pros, cons. etc.

The tutorials and projects are very well executed and easy to follow. I often found myself wanting to skim over projects that did not interest me, but in doing so, I usually stumbled across interesting aspects of each of the projects that caused me to go back and read over them more closely (e.g., facial recognition and pattern matching algorithms for the camera.) The projects are open ended and leave you brainstorming about the possibilities. In may cases, the projects build upon one another to combine capabilities. The possibility of using your iPhone to adjust your thermostat or turn your porch lights on and off becomes very plausible. In short, you will come away realizing that your imagination is more of a limitation than the hardware.

As others have pointed out, the references and recommendations for further reading are extremely useful, especially in the Kindle edition where they are listed as hyperlinks.

In summary, this is a great resource for those looking to get a running start with their Raspberry Pis.
Rating: 5
1449344216
Count: 13