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Just starting out

Former Member

I took the plunge and bought two Raspberry Pi units with SD cards and PSUs.  I can get keyboard/mouse and arrange video connections.  Hardware I can do, software is my weak point...

 

The other board will be for my grandson who is starting to get interested in computers and is a member of the Raspberry Pi club at his secondary school.

 

The question is, where can I find some simple programmes that he and I can input to start learning about programming and then branch out into developing and debugging other programmes please?

 

Bear in mind that a) we are both beginners (I tried Basic with a ZX81 many years ago but HTML is a closed book that I would like to open) and b) it would be nice to have something that we can both programme in and see something happening fairly quickly.  Even if it is the good old "Hello World" message scrolling across the screen.

 

Thanks

Parents

  • Thanks for all of the suggestions.

     

    I managed to get 'my' unit to work with both HD and a scart TV.

     

    I found out about the startx command (why don't they tell you about that in the initial blurb?) and I've messed about with various programs.

     

    What I've not yet worked out is how to enter simple line by line programs, like those shown in MagPi for python.

     

    It seems to assume that you will know how to start up something that will let you enter a set of program commands and then be able to run it.  I'm sorry, but I really do need a beginners guide to how to do this. I had to give up on Linux Red Hat because the books assumed that you knew what you were doing and the screen never ever fitted the monitor, nor were the colours any good, so I gave up. With the Raspberry Pi I was hoping for a "guide to what you need to do to get going" but now I'm doing a hunt and pounce on stuff across the internet to try and get going.

     

    Maybe my grandson will have a better clue and can tell me what needs to be done.

     

    AH well, onwards and upwards, as they say...

  • in reply to Former Member

    David Ackrill wrote:

     

    Thanks for all of the suggestions.

     

    I managed to get 'my' unit to work with both HD and a scart TV.

     

    I found out about the startx command (why don't they tell you about that in the initial blurb?) and I've messed about with various programs.

     

    What I've not yet worked out is how to enter simple line by line programs, like those shown in MagPi for python.

     

    It seems to assume that you will know how to start up something that will let you enter a set of program commands and then be able to run it.  I'm sorry, but I really do need a beginners guide to how to do this. I had to give up on Linux Red Hat because the books assumed that you knew what you were doing and the screen never ever fitted the monitor, nor were the colours any good, so I gave up. With the Raspberry Pi I was hoping for a "guide to what you need to do to get going" but now I'm doing a hunt and pounce on stuff across the internet to try and get going.

     

    Maybe my grandson will have a better clue and can tell me what needs to be done.

     

    AH well, onwards and upwards, as they say...

    Seriously go talk in the official raspberrypi.org forums, they are insanely helpful with questions like these.

  • in reply to Former Member

    Thanks for the advice,

     

    I've tried to sign up but the confirmation email seems to be taking a while to come through.

     

    Maybe it'll be here in the morning.  Night all.

     

    Dave

  • in reply to Former Member

    David,

      Just a suggestion, on the other forum be very careful what you say and how

    you say it.

       http://www.element14.com/community/thread/20081?start=49&tstart=0

  • in reply to Former Member

    Hi David,

     

    I just noticed I have recording capability! so here is a video explanation (might take a while for the video to be processed to the site).

    This is not using RPI but the process is similar.

    Here, I wrote some C code - but a similar method is needed for Python or most other language.

     

    Some languages have built-in interpreters, but usually the steps (as shown in the video) are:

    1. Write some code in a text editor of your choice

    2. Save file to a convenient location

    3. Open up a 'terminal'

    4. Compile the code (for some languages - some don't need this step)

    5. Run the code.

     

    I once tried to register on that other site, it didn't work, and when I read some of the comments on that site, I didn't bother to reattempt!

     

  • in reply to Former Member

    I'll bear that in mind. Thank you.

     

    I can get very frustrated at times, especially if I have a glass or two of wine or a bottle or three of beer, and decide to expand on my opinions on why things don't work or how the instructions are lacking in clarity...

     

    I really, really want this to work.  I want to learn about how to programme and I want to help my grandson to learn as well.  I just need some clear instructions on simple things like "how do I set up a program window that I can input commands, save them and then run them" - I hope that this is read as a straight forward request from someone who, even though has a bit of computer experience, needs some help.

     

    Please believe me, I am not a total novice. I can program a PIC, I can program an Arduino and I've even programmed in Basic, but I'm not a Linux person, I find it a strange place to be inside a Unix based system, so I do need help to navigate about.

     

    Dave

Reply
  • in reply to Former Member

    I'll bear that in mind. Thank you.

     

    I can get very frustrated at times, especially if I have a glass or two of wine or a bottle or three of beer, and decide to expand on my opinions on why things don't work or how the instructions are lacking in clarity...

     

    I really, really want this to work.  I want to learn about how to programme and I want to help my grandson to learn as well.  I just need some clear instructions on simple things like "how do I set up a program window that I can input commands, save them and then run them" - I hope that this is read as a straight forward request from someone who, even though has a bit of computer experience, needs some help.

     

    Please believe me, I am not a total novice. I can program a PIC, I can program an Arduino and I've even programmed in Basic, but I'm not a Linux person, I find it a strange place to be inside a Unix based system, so I do need help to navigate about.

     

    Dave

Children
  • in reply to Former Member

    Look up "geany" or "idle" for python programming.

  • in reply to Former Member

    coder27's choices will be better than the gedit used in the video - I'm not familiar with Python unfortunately.

     

    By the way, when you're in the terminal typing commands, here is a quick reference to some of the useful commands, I hope it makes sense.

     

    Quick Linux Guide

    Once logged into the Linux machine via Telnet, you will see a command prompt. In Linux, the software that is running that displays the prompt and allows you to type content is called the ‘shell’. You can leave the shell at any time by typing ‘exit’.

    Command Prompt

    Commands typically (but not always) have the syntax

    command -option -option argument

     

    An example would be

    ls –l *.txt

    The command ‘ls’ performs a directory (i.e. folder) listing. The argument ‘-l’ displays in a ‘lengthy’ format. The ‘*.txt’ argument defines what files to list.

    Redirection

    You can force the output into a file, using ‘>’.

    For example,

    ls > listing.txt

    would place the directory listing output into a file called listing.txt.

    History

    You can see earlier commands that you have typed by using the history command. It is very useful.

    Commands

    Useful commands are shown here.

    Command

    Example

    Description

    cd

    cd /home

    Change directory (folder)

    mkdir

    mkdir bob

    mkdir /home/bob

    Make a directory (folder)

    pwd

    pwd

    Display the current directory

    ls

    ls -altr

    Directory listing of files. The ‘-altr’ is a combination of 4 options. ‘-a’ lists hidden files too. ‘-l’ displays in a lengthy detailed format. ‘-t’ displays in date stamped order. ‘-r’ reverses the order, so that the most recent file is printed last.

    cp

    cp bob.txt mytest1.txt

    Copies a file

    mv

    mv bob.txt tests/.

    Moves a file into a folder or to a new file name. The example shown here would move the file into the tests folder.

    rm

    rm bob.txt

    Delete a file

    cat

    cat readme.txt

    Displays the contents of a file.

    more

    more readme.txt

    ls –altr | more

    cat readme.txt | more

    Displays content, but pauses per page. It can be combined with other commands that print lots of output, using the ‘pipe’ character ‘|’. The second example would be useful for viewing the contents of a folder with hundreds of files. The third example does the same as the first example.

    su

    su

    su - bob

    Change user. This allows you to jump from one user to another. It effectively creates a new shell. The first example allows you to become the root user who has administrator privileges. The second example changes to the user called ‘bob’. You can revert back to the original user (i.e. the original shell) by typing ‘exit’.

    ps

    ps -ef

    View the running processes. The example lists all processes (‘-e’) and in a long format (‘-f’). This command is useful to see what is running, and also useful if you want to force a process to close using the next command in this table

    kill

    kill -9 3244

    Force a process (program) to be closed. The ‘-9’ is a special signal that usually tells the program to close. The argument 3244 is the process number, found by using the ‘ps –ef’ command mentioned above.

    df

    df -k

    Check disk space. The ‘-k’ displays the values in kbytes.

    history

    history

    See all the previous commands that were typed

     

     

     

     


  • in reply to shabaz

    Thanks for that,

     

    Some of those commands look like others that I used in NOS back in the days of TCP/IP over radio.

     

    So much to do, so little time to achieve it in.

  • in reply to Former Member

    David Ackrill wrote:

     

    Some of those commands look like others that I used in NOS back in the days of TCP/IP over radio.

    There's more than just a hint of similarity there.  KA9Q himself even called NOS the "Linux of its time". image