In a previous post, I announced my new Node-RED and Raspberry Pi Pico W book and its immediate availability to early adopters (at a discount) while it is still in “beta“.
This book is a learning guide and a reference. You can use it to learn Node-RED, Raspberry Pi Pico W, and MicroPython and add these state-of-the-art tools to your technology toolkit.
Today, I am pleased to provide an update on the book and news about the video course!
Book
The early adopters of the book have been very generous with their time. They have helped me find 63 bugs, and recorded them in the errata list.
I have fixed all those bugs.
All early adopters are entitled to permanent access to the book’s discussion space on the Tech Explorations Community. From our discussions on the community, I realised that some parts of the book needed more work, even a complete rewrite. As a result of those discussions, I have added or re-written content in the first part of the book. This content concerns Docker, Docker Compose, and setting up the virtual machine.
At the time I am writing these lines, I have cleared all outstanding bugs in the errata list and have completed the revision of Part 1 (up to and including the MQTT chapters).
I have now generated a new version of the book, called “beta 2”, that contains all these updates.
The updated book PDF is also enhanced with working internal links (so you can jump from the table of contents to any part of the book), external links (so you can click on an in-book URL and open that page in your browser), and notes (so you can keep your notes inside the book). Of course, printing is also enabled.
I am working to finish the review and update the rest of the book in the next 1-2 weeks and then publish “beta 3”. This will be the last beta. After that, I will publish the book in its final form.
Thank you to all of you who helped me improve the book. This is the first time I manage a book in this way, and it was a success. I was worried that publishing an unfinished book would cause people (you) too much frustration and me too much stress, but I was wrong.
Course
I am working on a video course version of the book. The video course is based on the book, except Part 3 of the book (the Raspberry Pi Pico primer). I may add this section later, but I have not decided yet.
If you are a visual learner, this course is for you.
I have completed all recordings for this course, and we are now frantically editing.
If you are an early adopter of the book, I will be offering you the course at a steeply discounted price as a way to say “thank you” for your trust and assistance during the book’s beta period. In addition to the discount, as an early adopter, you will also have permanent access to the book and course Community discussion space. Remember, you are getting Community tier access for the price of Solo.
If you are interested in getting this steep discount for the course (plus access to the book’s and course’s discussion space) but are not an early adopter of the book, there is still time. Just go over to the book product page and purchase your copy now. The discount is already applied at the checkout, and there is no need for a discount coupon.
Video previews
Here’s a couple of videos from the course. The first one is a 1.5-minute preview, and the second one is the introduction to Part 2 of the course.
What to do next
- If you have already purchased the beta version of the book, go to your Downloads page to get the latest version of the PDF (login is required).
- As an early adopter, I will email you further details about the video course and your discount as soon as the course is ready. Sit tight!
- If you are interested in the early adopters discount for both the book and the course, go to the book product page now to learn more details and purchase the book while the beta discount is still on. The discount is automatically applied at checkout, and there is no need for a coupon. Aside from the discount, you will also gain permanent access to the book and course discussion space.
If you have any questions about the book and course, please ask by posting in the discussion below.