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Getting Started with C on the Raspberry Pi Pico

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Introduction
Programming Fundamentals
Raspberry Pi Pico Setup
GPIO Basics
Summary and Next Steps

Introduction to Programming the Raspberry Pi Pico in C

Welcome to the course! In this lesson, you’ll learn what this course covers and why learning C on the Raspberry Pi Pico is a great place to start.

By Kevin McAleer,    2 Minutes

Page last updated June 15, 2025

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Welcome to Getting Started with C on the Raspberry Pi Pico This course is designed for absolute beginners — no programming or electronics experience required.

If you’ve never written a line of code before, you’re in the right place.

What You’ll Learn

By the end of this course, you’ll be able to:

  • Understand the basics of the C programming language
  • Write simple C programs from scratch
  • Set up your development environment to write, compile, and upload code to the Pico
  • Control the GPIO pins on the Raspberry Pi Pico
  • Build your first embedded project: a blinking LED

Why C and Why the Pico?

C is one of the most widely used programming languages in the world — it powers operating systems, embedded systems, and low-level applications.

The Raspberry Pi Pico is:

  • Affordable
  • Powerful for its size
  • A great platform to learn programming and electronics
  • Based on the RP2040 microcontroller (dual-core ARM Cortex-M0+)

What You’ll Need

To follow along, you’ll need:

  • A Raspberry Pi Pico (or Pico W)
  • A USB cable (micro-USB)
  • A computer running Windows, macOS, or Linux
  • A breadboard (optional, but helpful)
  • 1x LED and 1x 330Ω resistor (for the LED project)

We’ll walk through how to install everything you need for coding in C — including the toolchain and the SDK.

Course Structure

This course is broken into five main parts:

  1. Programming Fundamentals – Learn the core ideas of C programming
  2. Pico Setup – Install the tools and run your first C program
  3. GPIO Basics – Learn how to control physical hardware
  4. Your First Project – Make an LED blink!
  5. Wrap-up & Next Steps – Where to go after the course

Let’s Get Started

In the next section, we’ll introduce you to the C language — what it is, how it works, and why it’s still relevant today.

Next up: What is C?

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