Operation Manual

What next?
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Notes:
It concentrates on programming because the Raspberry Pi was made to
encourage a new generation of programmers. While there is much more to
computing than programming, it is a very good place to start.
General resources and help
The first place to look is the official Raspberry Pi website and forum
(http://raspberrypi.org). There is a lot going on in the forums and there are
subforums for specific topics such as GPIO, programming, operating systems
and education. The members are a friendly bunch who collectively have a huge
amount of experience and expertise. They would be happy to answer any
questions, help you with problems and point you in the right direction. If you have
a question about your Raspberry Pi or are trying to get something to work then
this is probably the best place to start.
The Raspberry Pi wiki at eLinux (http://elinux.org/R-Pi_Hub) is also a great
source of information and is constantly updated. It’s a wiki, so feel free to add to
it and improve it as your knowledge grows and your expertise widens!
Perhaps the most useful thing that you can do is to join some forums (no, not fora)
and talk to people. Get involved, ask questions, help others. Above all keep on
computing and have fun!
Programming
The first question that those new to programming ask is, “What is the best
language to learn?” Put simply – there isn’t one. Just discussing programming
languages would fill another volume (and would make you claw frantically at your
keyboard in bored rage, like some deranged man-mantis).
Each language has its advantages, disadvantages and particular uses, and all
programmers have their favourites. It can all get a bit, “My dad’s better than your
dad”, which isn’t that helpful if you don’t know where to start. Ultimately, it’s the
underlying computational concepts that you learn while programming that actually
matter. So our advice at this stage is this:
The first language you learn is unimportant. Pick one and get programming!
[Update: the author of this statement has since had to go into hiding, after he was
attacked in his local supermarket by a horde of angry programmers, who hurled
turnips at him and called him an “ill-educated homunculus”.]
So, pick a language and get started. Unless you have reason not to, then
continuing with Python seems sensible. Eventually, you’ll learn other languages
but by then you will know what you want to learn and why.