The difference between a single-chip microcomputer and a "Raspberry Pi" is as follows:

1. Different processors and operating systems:

The single-chip microcomputer is an MCU (microcontroller). The Raspberry Pi is a card-based computer, and the processor on it is based on ARM architecture. Half of the microcontrollers are slow and have few resources, but unlike Raspberry Pi, they can run operating systems like Linux, or deploy servers, cloud computing, etc. To put it bluntly, the Raspberry Pi can complete many operations that a single-chip computer cannot.

2. There are different levels of complexity when writing code:

Although the development cycle of microcontroller is relatively short, it is basically based on specific tasks and each time the code is written, it must be reprogrammed. , very troublesome. The Raspberry Pi is different. The Raspberry Pi is a computer. It can be programmed, compiled, and run directly locally. If you want to re-add or delete functions to the original program, or switch from the current task to a different new task.

The Raspberry Pi does not need to program according to different tasks or updates like a microcontroller. Using Raspberry Pi basically operates GPIO through various libraries to control peripherals, and if you hook it up to the Internet through the network, you can operate it remotely.

3. The two have different focuses:

Currently the maker style is very popular. The Raspberry Pi is a microcomputer that can connect to the Internet, camera, mouse, and keyboard. Once you learn Linux, you can do many things with it. For example: water the flowers automatically, then take photos and post them on Weibo. Through the developer's own ability, he can match various peripherals and make many things.

The impression given by microcontrollers is always that they are used in the development field, engineering and so on. The focus of the two is different. Of course, the microcontroller can also be connected to various peripherals and do many things.

The essence of both is the same, but the support of single-chip microcomputer is not as much as that of Raspberry Pi. It is indeed faster to use the single-chip computer to play videos with the Linux system support of Raspberry Pi. It would be even more troublesome if you want to use a microcontroller to drive the mouse and keyboard, and these are the functions that come with the Raspberry Pi system.

The reasons why you need a "Raspberry Pi" when you already have a single-chip microcomputer are as follows:

There are still many differences between the two. The single-chip microcomputer cannot completely replace the "Raspberry Pi". exist.

The Raspberry Pi comes with a complete system, with complete functions and strong scalability, but the cost is relatively high; the single-chip microcomputer is easy to get started and cost-effective, but has a single function and requires strong technical capabilities to realize some functions. However, as the cost of technological innovation in the hardware industry declines, the ecosystem represented by the Raspberry Pi will be the general trend.

Baidu Encyclopedia - Microcontroller

Baidu Encyclopedia - Raspberry Pi