Raspberry Pi

Anyone familiar with Raspberry Pi? We homeschool our children and our son has developed an interest in programming. This was recommended to me in passing, so I wanted to see if anyone had more info on it. If so, it looks like there are different options. Any input on which would be best to teach basic programming?

http://texags.com/forums/30/topics/2553834/

I haven't used a pi, but from what I understand, they're a bit tough to set up.. Plus, they run Linux, which is a learning experience of its own.

If you have a Mac or a Windows machine, just cruise over to the Python website and install the latest stable version. Boot up the IDLE (a simple console that can execute individual program instructions or scripts) and you're good to go.

Other people might have different opinions, but for a young person who's new to programming, Python is the way to go. It's simple, it handles a ton of tasks for you in the background, it's wildly popular (so there's tons of documentation online or books for sale at Amazon on just about every topic), and its applications are essentially limitless. Big data analysis, natural language processing, web development via Django... Python does it all.

EDIT: here's the Python download link
https://www.python.org/downloads/

Thanks guys!

I'm just picked up a python learning book this week after looking around for online guides and flipping the pages in some books at the book store. I felt this book had the best progression and it was full color and visually stimulating so easier on the eyes and to keep focus than a black and white only book. It is designed for people with zero programming experience (though i have some) and it looks like it covers a good variety of what python can do so that's why I picked it.

Another thing is that this book teaches python 3.x, which is the latest revision of python. Many books out there still only teach python 2.7 which is old version and has some differences.

http://www.amazon.com/Python-Easy-Steps-Mike-McGrath/dp/1840785969

Linux is a good platform for learning python because python comes pre-installed. Super easy just open the terminal (click icon straight from the desktop) and type "python3" and then it enters the python prompt and will execute code as you enter it (Typing just python, instead of python3 will bring up python 2.7, at least on my release of linux).

Also linux you just enter "python3 mycode.py" in the terminal and it runs the mycode.py file which contains the code you write (a text file saved as .py).

http://www.codecademy.com/en/tracks/python

Do this first before you invest in any hardware. Even though Rasberry Pi is cheap, getting thrown into the deep end figuring out the hardware and operating system quirks could spoil all the fun for a newbie. If he enjoys codeacademy, then we can find him a good walkthrough for rasberry pi.

I have been working on Ubuntu for a few months, and regularly work on routers, but I have spent a little time on the link above.. WIll let you know what I think about it.. Looking forward to learning something.. Its funny I have been doing research on a Rasberry Pi 2 the last few weeks and would like to configure Kodi on it and let it work as a plug and play in my parents new house. Anyone familiar with Kodi ( XBMC ) concerning configuring on a Rasberry?

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http://www.codecademy.com/en/tracks/python

Do this first before you invest in any hardware. Even though Rasberry Pi is cheap, getting thrown into the deep end figuring out the hardware and operating system quirks could spoil all the fun for a newbie. If he enjoys codeacademy, then we can find him a good walkthrough for rasberry pi.

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It may be more fun to learn with a peice of hardware too. Raspberry pi was made to be a learning tool. That's why it was invented, to teach. Just my 5 cents