Copyright notice: Author: Children’s Maker Help. Most existing technology websites introduce the hardware of PiZero, but few introduce the built-in software. Therefore, I have compiled some information about the built-in software of PiZero to share with everyone. For a detailed introduction to PiZero, you can search on Baidu. For friends who have not come into contact with Raspberry Pi, you can understand PiZero as a small computer that can be used with a keyboard, mouse, and display. Moreover, the official PiZero is just a small metal box, which is convenient to carry. It is a nice toy. The philosophy of Raspberry Pi is:
Every person should have a low-cost computer
Raspberry Pi Zero compared to a 5-cent coin
The official picture shows 5 dollars, but I used 5 cents here, which seems more in line with our national conditions, and the comparison is more obvious. After all, I have never seen what 5 dollars looks like.
Raspberry Pi with a 32-inch TV
Introduction to Built-in Programming Tools
PiZero comes with a rich set of programming tools. In addition to the common Python 2 and Python 3, it also includes Scratch, Sonic Pi, Wolfram, and Sense HAT emulator, Node-RED, Mathematica software, as well as Greenfoot Java IDE, Geany Programmer’s Editor, BlueJ Java IDE, etc. From this, it can be seen that PiZero serves as a programming learning tool, and abroad tends to prefer these three languages: Scratch, Python, and Java. As shown in the figure below:
Built-in Programming Tools
BlueJ Java IDE
It is also an open-source Java IDE aimed at education. BlueJ is commonly used for small software projects development. It has a very basic UI, so beginners can use it well. It is worth mentioning that BlueJ provides a clean visual representation of classes and objects, which is a great experience for beginners who have not been exposed to this kind of knowledge before.
The official website of BlueJ provides open-source textbooks.
Related textbooks
Interface screenshot
Logo
Visual representation of classes and objects
Geany
Geany is an IDE developed using GTK+ that provides basic functionality. The design goal is to provide a small and fast IDE with very few dependencies. It runs on Linux systems.
Interface screenshot
More screenshots
Greenfoot Java IDE
The website interface is cool
Key features include:
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Interactivity, providing visual tools for programming that make learning programming simpler.
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Real programming in Java teaching and learning, the world’s most popular programming language.
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Global community, providing a space for learners to discuss, communicate, and share.
Also provides rich resources supported by Oracle.
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Software supports Windows, Linux, and Mac.
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Officially provides teacher and student books for learning.
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Provides a learning community to share resources and communicate.
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Kent University supports development.
This software seems to follow the path of learning programming through developing games and interactive programs, emphasizing the immediate visual effects in programming learning to obtain positive feedback. The introduction image shows a spaceship game.
The following content is from Baidu Encyclopedia:
Greenfoot is designed for those who want to familiarize themselves with Java. It is a complete development environment that allows for easy game writing and simulation using Java. It can also be used as a tutorial for the Java language and for designing 2D games, suitable for users of all ages, not just beginners. Greenfoot, like the BlueJ system, is free for any use. This system and its documentation can be redistributed without any cost, providing a great environment for friends learning and using Java. Greenfoot is considered a combination of a framework and an IDE for creating 2D graphical programs using the Java language, making it very suitable for beginners. Greenfoot supports all features of Java, and it is particularly suited for practicing programming with visual components. In Greenfoot, the visualization of objects and their interactivity are key. If you know the BlueJ and Microworld frameworks, Greenfoot can be seen as a combination of them. This framework is responsible for two main tasks: simplifying the graphical display of objects and running according to simulation routes. To achieve these functions, the Greenfoot framework provides an Actor base class that any class wanting to implement visualization must inherit from. The two most important methods to execute are: getImage() returns the object’s graphic, and act() will be called in the simulation route.
Mathematica
The following content is quoted from Baidu Encyclopedia:
Mathematica is a scientific computing software that combines numerical and symbolic computation engines, graphical systems, programming languages, text systems, and high-level connections with other applications. Many functions are world-leading in their respective fields, and it is one of the most widely used mathematical software. The release of Mathematica marked the beginning of modern scientific computing. Mathematica is the most powerful system among general computing systems worldwide. Since its release in 1988, it has profoundly influenced how computers are used in science and other fields. Mathematica is often mentioned alongside MATLAB and Maple as the three major mathematical software. The main user group of Mathematica is scientific workers and other professionals. However, Mathematica is also widely used in education. Many calculations in mathematics are very tedious, especially plotting functions is time-consuming and labor-intensive, so it is now popular to use the Mathematica symbolic computation system for learning. Hundreds of courses from high school to graduate school use it, and many problems are easily solved. In addition, with the emergence of the student version, Mathematica has become popular among students worldwide, becoming a well-known tool.
I personally have not used this software, but it is said to be very powerful, so I recommend everyone to learn about it. It seems to be an enhanced version of Matplotlib, a combination of Scipy and Numpy. From what I have seen, it can greatly assist in math teaching, plotting, mathematical functions, etc. I will learn more and introduce it to everyone later.
Node-RED
Node-RED is an IoT wiring visualization tool created by IBM’s emerging technology service team. Node-RED is a new open-source tool created by the IBM Emerging Technology team that allows you to write applications by combining various components. These components can be hardware devices, Web APIs, or online services.
Software interface
Related articles: Build a real-time chat application with Node-RED in 5 minutes Part 3: Building custom applications with Node-RED Using Node-RED and IBM Bluemix Push service to automatically send push notifications. It feels like a client of IBM’s IoT cloud platform.
Sonic PiMusic Programming Tool
Can be used to integrate music and programming courses. Sonic Pi is an open-source programming environment designed to explore and teach programming concepts through the process of creating sounds and making music. The code executed in Sonic Pi is based on Ruby, a beautiful and concise programming language. This means you can write a lot of code without worrying too much about syntax and curly braces—although they are important for complex programs.
Built-in Mathematica Raspberry Pi experimental version
Raspberry Pi official resources related resources, official introduction, Raspberry Pi official tutorial on Mathematica. Since Raspberry Pi is aimed at teenagers, the official tutorials are very simple and clear. If you are interested, you can take a look. If I have time, I can translate it.Liz: If you use the Raspbian system, you will notice that Mathematica and Wolfram language are provided for free with Raspberry Pi. (It can be said without arrogance that our Mathematica officially allows free binding to use a second computer. What is the first one? The NeXT system of Jobs in 1988.) In July, the Mathematica research team made a major upgrade, releasing version 10.0 of Mathematica.
Of course, to be honest, I have no experience using it, so I can’t say much.
Built-in Scratch 1.4 software, the version is too old, I don’t know why 2.0 is not included.
This software does not need much introduction.
Raspberry Pi accessory, the icon is a Swiss Army knife.
Built-in Raspberry Pi version of Minecraft and several Python games.
Mathematica startup interface
Built-in Google Chrome, email client, Raspberry Pi resource links, MagPi magazine, VNC address book, and VNC client.
Libre series open-source office software
Conclusion
PiZero comes with IDEs for Python, Java, Ruby, and Scratch, which can serve as learning tools for these languages. Moreover, these programming tools are very friendly for teenagers, making them easy to learn and use. Now that TVs with HDMI interfaces are widely popular, once the production capacity of PiZero keeps up and the price goes up in the domestic market, everyone can consider getting one. As an information technology teacher, it is important to understand the software that comes with PiZero, study how to integrate it with the curriculum, and improve educational technology application abilities, which is very beneficial for teaching. I recommend some articles: New Raspberry Pi sold out in 24 hours, want to buy it requires a 20-fold markup. Five things you need to know about Raspberry Pi Zero. Is Raspberry Pi Zero a new product or old wine? I will continue to explore the use of educational software in Raspberry Pi and gradually publish related articles.