As it says (via Raspberry Pi)
Need a more thorough explanation for your Raspberry Pi? You can now get, free from the Raspberry Pi website. Thanks to a team of teachers from Computing at School (CAS) in the U.K. anyone who is looking to get a more formal explanation of programming can easily download and check out the manual. It also serves as a great introduction to computer science as well, so if you do not yet have a Raspberry Pi, it is still a great resource to check out.
In the manual, you will find various topics ranging from Scratch programming to Linux command line information. Beginning with Scratch, the manual gives you a brief introduction on what it is and how to use it. For the more advanced users this chapter will be one to skip. However, for young people or someone entirely new to programming, Scratch is a great way to get started. No programming is actually done in Scratch, instead you use various programming principles such as loops, comparisons, and “if” statements to create a game, animations, or interactive art piece.
Furthermore, the manual goes on to get users started with Python. It introduces basic principles and provides the user with some programs to try out in Python. While this is not a tutorial or reference, it does provide great examples and at the end of the chapter will point you in the right direction to learn more about the language. Likewise, the manual will begin to explain how to use the Pi to interact with humans. Great examples are provided such as web applications, e-mail applications, and many principles commonly found when learning about micro controllers.
The last chapter focuses on how to use Linux. More specifically, it focuses on how to use the command line within Linux. Once again, many references are listed at the end to guide users into the right direction if they are looking to learn more on the subject. In addition, there are a couple of chapters within the manual that are not complete. They are Greenfoot and GeoGebra. According to the Pi website, these will most likely be done soon. A group at Oracle is working on creating a faster running Java Virtual Machine (JVM) for the Pi, which will then allow these programs to run smoothly.
This is a great manual to use to get started and an even better one for younger people interested in the Pi. Detailed information will most likely not be found in the manual, however if you are new to Linux or Python this could be a great place to start at. The manual was released under the Creative Commons License so it is available for download, sharing, or copying, just don't sell it. Anyone interested could download it from raspberrypi.org.
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