The Raspberry Pi is designed to introduce its users to the more practical side of computing. As such it exposes users to the command line as soon as you turn it on. New users (and even some more experienced enthusiasts) can have a rather irrational fear of the command line. Hopefully the following tips and techniques will prove that it’s actually much friendlier than you might think…
All of the tips and techniques work on the command prompt (when you first start your Raspberry Pi) and in the LXTerminal window (once you’ve logged in to your desktop by typing startx ) and assume you’re running the officially supported operating system for Raspberry Pi, Raspbian.
One of the most widely overlooked command line conveniences is the fact you can actually copy and paste snippets of code or URLs into the terminal. Simply highlight the text you wish to copy, right click and select Copy. Moving over to the terminal window, all you need to do is right click inside and select Paste.
The quicker alternative would be to use the convenient Copy and Paste shortcut keys, you just need to add SHIFT into the mix.
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.
