Roughly the same size as a credit card, Raspberry Pi is an example of a single-board computer, which has all the basic hardware components of a computer (processor, memory, etc.) as well as various extensions (USB, HDMI, video, sound, etc.). A micro SD card is inserted into a slot, and this acts as a hard drive while also providing the operating system. For this, the Debian-based Raspbian is recommended, but other Linux distributions and special Windows versions can also be used. For the power supply, a micro USB charger (i.e. a smartphone charger) can be used. An internet connection can be set up via a network cable over the Ethernet interface. Various external devices can be connected to the USB sockets, including a mouse, keyboard, external hard drive, and many more, while the HDMI connection is the simplest way to connect a screen to the Raspberry Pi device. The device also has several pins, which can be given further functions via programming.
Components vary depending on the model. The very first edition, Raspberry Pi 1, appeared on the market in February 2012. Since then, more models have followed, with their face value continually set at a maximum of $35, making them incredibly cost-effective computers. The latest model, Raspberry Pi 3 was launched in February 2016. This edition has a 64-bit CPU and for the first time, offers WiFi and Bluetooth low energy.
Apart from being a wordplay on the beloved dessert, the name, ‘Raspberry Pi’ falls in line with the tradition in IT companies to incorporate fruit in the name (like Apple, Blackberry, and Acorn), while also indicating its functions. Here, ‘Pi’ is an abbreviation for ‘Python interpreter’, as Python is considered to be Raspberry Pi’s main programming language. However, those with no experience with Python can also use Scratch, which is an even simpler, more visual programming language.