Software required

Please download the following software if you want to follow along with the instructions in this chapter:

• Raspbian Stretch: Raspbian Stretch is the operating system (OS) that we will write to a microSD card. Stretch is the OS that will run our Raspberry Pi. It can be downloaded from https://www.raspberrypi.org/downloads/raspbian/ This OS is developed specifically for the Raspberry Pi.
• Balena Etcher: This software will format the microSD card and write the Raspbian Stretch image to the microSD card. It can be downloaded from https://www.balena.io/etcher/.
• PuTTY: We will use PuTTY to connect our Raspberry Pi to a Wi-Fi network and find the IP address that the Wi-Fi network assigns to it. It can be downloaded from https://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/latest.html.
• VNC Viewer: With VNC Viewer, we will be able to view the Raspberry Pi display on our laptop. It can be downloaded from https://www.realvnc.com/en/connect/download/viewer/.
• Bonjour: This is generally used to connect printers to computers over Wi-Fi. It can be downloaded from https://support.apple.com/kb/DL999?viewlocale=en_MY&locale=en_MY.
• Notepad++:  We will need Notepad++ to edit the code in the Raspbian Stretch image. It can be downloaded from https://notepad-plus-plus.org/download/v7.5.9.html.
• Brackets: Brackets allows those using macOS to edit the code in the Rapbian Stretch image. To download Brackets, go to http://www.brackets.io/.