Raspberry Pi and Visual Basic

Foreword by the Author I had not worked with the Raspberry Pi very long when I realized how much fun it could be. Like most, I started with Python, used Scratch, and some of the music software on Raspbian (default operating system for the Raspberry Pi). After a few successful projects, I grew tired of Python and the limitations of the GUI in Tkinter. I do not mean knock Python, and I just wanted to try something different. It was just too long of a learning curve for the GUI language part. I felt Visual Basic (VB) might prove to be more efficient and faster for my projects. Being an old Visual Basic guy, and having interest in the electronics and other aspects of the Pi, I wanted quicker results. I started out trying to learn C Sharp better, and I probably spend more time there in the future, but again it was taking too long to learn. I wanted to utilize some of the existing knowledge I had in Visual Basic, if possible. I found some information was on the internet, but it is all over the place for the Pi and Windows 10 IoT (Internet of Things). After doing a few weeks of research, I decided to use Visual Basic in Visual Studio Community 2017. I wanted to see how feasible VB still is for the Raspberry Pi and Windows 10 IoT. I picked a project to develop in Visual Basic and utilized the Pi Foundations 7" Raspberry touchscreen. This screen allowed me to keep my PC screens for work. After more research and coding, I found out my project was viable and perfect for Visual Basic. I created a speech timer application for my local Toastmasters club and presented it at one of the meetings. It worked well. I wanted to provide information to interest a novice to learn more, and possibly provide something a veteran could use to get past any hurdles they might have with the Pi and Visual Basic. This book is meant to help both. I carefully chose the projects that presented in the book. I have basic examples of Visual Basic's buttons, textboxes, progress bars, textblocks, file access, and even some SQL Server examples. I could have gone a lot deeper in electronics, but did not. The Pi has a GPIO-General Purpose Input Output or electronics capability. Instead, I choose to just scratch the surface in electronics and cover what might make people interested in the Pi. Visual Basic does work with the Pi, and it works well for Windows 10 IoT programming. It is too bad Xamarin and Visual Studio Community did not provide the ability to use Visual Basic for Android and IOS. I programmed Android with Android Studio instead of Visual Studio since it only works in C sharp using Xamarin. You must learn Java, and that was the bulk of the code required. I hope you enjoy using this book and the samples in Visual Basic and the Raspberry Pi. Table of Contents Foreword by the Author3 Author's Background6 Table of Contents8 Disclaimer10 Purpose of this Book11 Raspberry Pi Boards15 The History of the Raspberry Pi16 What Makes Up A PI?17 GPIO19 Operating Systems22 Disclaimer and Precautions23 Components for the Pi24 Required Components25 Recommended Components26 Installing Windows 10 IoT Core28 Setting Up Your Raspberry Pi30 Tools for Windows 10 IoT Development31 Admin Screen Functionality38 Apps Functionality38 Other Information38 Programming and Visual Basic39 Variables40 Subroutines and Functions42 Functions42 Toolbox Controls45 Conditionals45 If Then Else45 Do While Loop46 For Next46 Events48 Visual Studio IDE Setup50 Visual Basic Projects82 HelloPi84 HelloPiBye100 SimpleTimer109 File Operations122 GPIOToggle130 GPIOButtonPressed150 SQL Server Access and Read168 Glossary184 Diagrams187 GPIO Diagram188 Raspberry Pi Board Top189 Raspberry Pi Board Back190 GPIO Extension Board Pinouts191 GPIO Extension T Board192 Sunfounder GPIO Extension Kit193 Breadboard & T Extender Diagram194 CanaKit Pi GPIO Board Bundle196 Breadboard Overview197 Web Links198 Notes199