As easy as Pi? How Raspberry Pi novices can get started with it

At first glance, it’s easy to mistake a Raspberry Pi for a generic circuit board.

16:03 26 January 2022

But it’s actually a miniature computer with which you could build a wide range of DIY electronics projects.

The Raspberry Pi Foundation originally introduced the Pi in the early 2010s as an inexpensive device for novice programmers. Therefore, if you lack programming knowledge, you could easily see the Pi as your ticket to achieving coding excellence – and, by and large, you would be right to see things in this way.

Nonetheless, the Internet is now awash with so many articles about the Raspberry Pi that you could quickly feel overwhelmed. So, here’s a back-to-basics beginner’s guide to priming your Pi prowess.

What bits and pieces do you need to get started?

Yes, you obviously need the Pi itself – and PCMag UK lists various other things you would or could need, including a power supply, SD card, mouse, keyboard and HDMI cable.

However, as a beginner, you could rid yourself of much confusion about what you definitely do and don’t need if you simply buy a Raspberry Pi ‘starter kit’. This will already package all of the physical parts you need – and TechBullion warns: “If you decide to buy the hardware separately, you will end up spending more”.

As there are many different Raspberry Pi models these days, you probably won’t be surprised to learn that there are many different Pi starter kits, too. The Pi Hut is one online store stocking a wide selection of Raspberry Pi starter kits, allowing you to choose one that serves your needs especially well.

Smooth operator? It’s time to give your Pi an operating system

“No need to ask, it’s a smooth operator,” the lead singer of Sade would probably say about your Raspberry Pi if they saw it after you had installed an operating system on it. So, how do you do that? First, make sure you have a) an image file for your chosen OS and b) software you will use to write this file to an SD card. The image file also needs to be compatible with your particular Pi model.

Once you have finished transferring the file to the SD card, you can put this into the Pi, use a HDMI cable to connect the Pi to a monitor or TV and plug the Pi into a wall-based power supply. You will then be able to see, on the large screen, the user interface for your Pi’s OS. This will give you the means of configuring the Pi’s online connectivity, installing new software on the Pi and, ultimately, fully customising it.

Yes, actually tapping into the full range of your Pi’s customisation options could be much easier said than done if you are new to programming. It’s reassuring, then, that the Raspberry Pi Tutorials website has published an introductory guide to programming a Pi – meaning that, even as a beginner, you are now in a better position to start unravelling more of the potentially bewildering tangles of using a Pi.