Course Overview

Mathematica is a computational programming tool used in science, maths, computing and engineering first released in 1988. It is proprietary software that you can use for free on the Raspberry Pi and has been bundled with Raspbian and NOOBS since late 2013. Read the announcement on the Raspberry Pi blog: The Wolfram Language and Mathematica on Raspberry Pi, for free. A full version of the Wolfram Language is available for the Raspberry Pi computer and comes bundled with the Raspbian operating system. Programs can be run from a Pi command line or as a background process, as well as through a notebook interface on the Pi or on a remote computer. On the Pi, the Wolfram Language supports direct programmatic access to standard Pi ports and devices.

Mathematica is a symbolic mathematical computation program, sometimes called a computer algebra program, used in many scientific, engineering, mathematical, and computing fields. It was conceived by Stephen Wolfram and is developed by Wolfram Research of Champaign, Illinois.  The Wolfram Language is the programming language used in Mathematica.  Features include instant dynamic interactivity, high-impact adaptive visualization, symbolic interface construction, load-on-demand curated data, image and audio processing, neural networkings, 3D printing, and tools for connecting to DLL, SQL, Java, .NET, C++, Fortran, CUDA, OpenCL, and http based systems.

You can read more about Wolfram and Mathematica on the Raspberry Pi at this website – <https://www.wolfram.com/raspberry-pi/>

As part of this course we will learn the fundamentals of Mathematica and Wolfram by working on various projects on the Raspberry Pi.

Prerequisites

1. This development track is based on the Rasbperry Pi.
2. If you haven’t purchased the Raspberry Pi 4B yet please head over to our store and purchase one now.
3. Depending on where you live you might also be able to pick up the Raspberry Pi 4B at your local electronics hobby store.

About the Raspberry Pi

The Raspberry Pi is a series of small single-board computers developed in the United Kingdom by the Raspberry Pi Foundation to promote the teaching of basic computer science in schools and in developing countries. It is a capable little computer which can be used in electronics projects, and for many of the things that your desktop PC does, like spreadsheets, word processing, browsing the internet, and playing games. The original model became far more popular than anticipated, selling outside its target market for uses such as robotics.

The Raspberry Pi does not include peripherals (such as keyboards, mice and cases). However, some accessories have been included in several official and unofficial bundles. According to the Raspberry Pi Foundation, over 5 million Raspberry Pis were sold by February 2015, making it the best-selling British computer. By November 2016 they had sold 11 million units, and 12.5m by March 2017, making it the third best-selling “general purpose computer”. In July 2017, sales reached nearly 15 million.In March 2018, sales reached 19 million. Most Pis are made in a Sony factory in Pencoed, Wales; some are made in China or Japan.

You can read more about the Raspberry Pi here – RaspberryPi.org.