O'Reilly Media Electronics Cookbook: Practical Electronic Recipes with Arduino and Raspberry Pi

A bench-side companion that gets projects moving

I keep a small stack of references within reach of my soldering iron—books that earn their place by helping me solve real problems quickly. Electronics Cookbook made it into that stack after a weekend of building and troubleshooting small projects. It’s a practical, 459-page, first-edition guide (published in 2017) built around the Arduino and Raspberry Pi ecosystems, but it’s equally happy helping you wire a transistor or figure out how to read a sensor on a breadboard. It’s not a theory textbook, and it doesn’t try to be. Its promise is simple: give you a problem, show you a working solution, and explain just enough so you can adapt it.

How the book works

The format is consistent and efficient. Each “recipe” starts with a question framed exactly the way I find myself thinking at the bench: “How do I drive a higher voltage motor from a microcontroller?” or “What’s a safe way to charge a LiPo cell?” The book answers with:

• A short explanation of the approach
• A parts list
• A schematic (and often a breadboard layout)
• Example code for either Arduino (C/C++) or Raspberry Pi (Python)
• A brief discussion of why it works and what to watch for

That structure makes it easy to drop in anywhere. I rarely read it cover to cover; I flip to the problem I’m facing, get a working baseline, then tweak from there.

What I built and how it went

To get a feel for the coverage and clarity, I built a handful of recipes spanning power, sensing, and control:

• Switching higher-voltage loads: Using an NPN transistor with a base resistor and flyback diode, I controlled a 12V relay from a 5V microcontroller. The schematic was correct, the parts list sensible, and the explanation of flyback protection was concise. This is a classic pattern, and the book nails it.

• Reading a temperature sensor: I wired a digital sensor to both Arduino and Raspberry Pi and ran the provided code. The Arduino sketch compiled and ran as-is; the Pi example needed a small path adjustment on my OS image, but the logic was spot on.

• GPIO expansion: The I2C expander example helped me stretch a project beyond the available pins without overthinking it. Addressing, pull-ups, and wiring were clearly covered.

• A simple op-amp comparator: The recipe to detect a threshold and drive an output worked immediately. The discussion gave just enough context on hysteresis to avoid chatter without drowning me in math.

• A power supply recipe: Converting an off-the-shelf AC adapter to a regulated DC rail with proper decoupling and protection components was presented with clear warnings and sensible component choices. I appreciated the emphasis on safety when anything touched mains.

Each of these examples got me from zero to a working prototype quickly, which is exactly what I want from a cookbook.

Arduino and Raspberry Pi coverage

The Arduino side is very comfortable: sketches are clean, portable, and use standard libraries. For Raspberry Pi, the Python examples are pragmatic and straightforward, using the typical GPIO abstractions. Given the 2017 publication date, a few library names and OS details show their age, but the patterns (pin handling, I2C/SPI usage, PWM, timing) remain relevant. In practice, I occasionally had to substitute a modern library or tweak an import, but the wiring and logic still mapped 1:1.

Where the book shines is in bridging bare-metal electronics and these platforms. It treats microcontrollers and single-board computers as part of the toolset, not the entire story. You’ll find pure-electronics recipes (rectification, basic filtering, transistor switching, op-amps) alongside platform-specific ones (using radio modules, serial protocols, displays, and sensors).

Clarity of diagrams and parts lists

The schematics are generally clear and correctly annotated. Parts lists point to typical component values and, usefully, list equivalent parts rather than locking you into one exact model. In print, the book is grayscale, and some smaller photos and breadboard images feel cramped or low-contrast. On a bright bench, I occasionally had to cross-check a pin label or refer back to the schematic rather than rely on the photo. It’s a minor annoyance rather than a showstopper, but worth noting if you prefer pictorial wiring diagrams.

I liked the inclusion of real-world component photos early on—recognizing packages and footprints matters if you’re a beginner—but those images consume space that could have gone to larger diagrams in a few later chapters. The tradeoff mostly works, especially for readers still learning to distinguish similar-looking parts.

Depth versus breadth

This is a practical, breadth-first book. It’s intentionally light on derivations and deep theory. You’ll get enough of the “why” to avoid common mistakes—flyback diodes for inductive loads, biasing a transistor, level shifting between 5V and 3.3V systems—but you won’t get a lecture on semiconductor physics. I found that refreshing when I needed to get things working, and limiting when I wanted to optimize a design or understand edge cases.

If your goal is mastery of analog design or power electronics, you’ll want a companion text dedicated to fundamentals. If your goal is to prototype, test, and ship a working gadget, this hits the sweet spot.

Organization and usability

The question-driven headings make scanning effortless. Need to send data wirelessly? There’s a cluster of recipes for radio modules, complete with wiring and example code. Need to exceed the available GPIO pins? The expander and multiplexing recipes sit together, so you can compare approaches. The pacing is sensible: components and power early, then sensing and actuating, then integration with Arduino and Raspberry Pi.

I did run into a couple of small cross-reference hiccups—an occasional figure number mismatch—but nothing that stopped progress. Given the publication date, a quick check for errata online is worth your time if a diagram doesn’t seem to match the text.

Safety and standards

The safety guidance around mains AC is present and serious. You’ll get clear warnings and safest-possible approaches without turning the book into an electrical code manual. It’s also written from a US-centric perspective—plug types, line voltage, and fuse ratings assume a North American context—so expect to adapt if you’re working in a different region. The electronics guidance itself is universal; the mains specifics require localizing.

Longevity and relevance

Component lists include generic part categories alongside example part numbers. That’s helpful when you’re ordering, but specific SKUs inevitably age. The value here is that the circuits are stable patterns: transistor high-side/low-side driving, buck/linear regulation, voltage measurement, UART/I2C/SPI interfacing, basic op-amp stages, and microcontroller-to-SBC handshakes. Those haven’t changed, and the book’s solutions are still solid.

Who it’s for

• Beginners who learn best by doing and want reliable patterns to copy and adapt
• Hobbyists and makers who bounce between pure electronics and Arduino/Raspberry Pi projects
• Anyone who prefers a problem-solution-discussion format over long narrative chapters

Who might look elsewhere:

• Readers seeking deep theoretical background and design math
• Engineers who never touch Arduino or Raspberry Pi (there’s still value here, but you’ll skip a lot)
• Visual learners who rely heavily on large, high-contrast photos rather than schematics

What I’d change

• Enlarge a few of the more intricate diagrams and improve contrast in breadboard photos
• Add sidebars with “modern library alternatives” on the Pi side to reflect newer OS defaults
• Include quick “design rationale” bullets for part values in more recipes, to aid adaptation

None of these are dealbreakers; they’re quality-of-life tweaks that would elevate an already useful book.

Recommendation

I recommend Electronics Cookbook as a practical, bench-friendly reference for getting real circuits working with minimal fuss. It’s strongest as a rapid problem-solver: you bring a question, it gives you a safe, tested pattern with parts, wiring, and code, plus just enough explanation to adapt it. If you’re building with Arduino or Raspberry Pi—or you’re a beginner moving from theory videos to working prototypes—it earns its space on the shelf. Pair it with a fundamentals text if you want deeper understanding, and expect to update a library call or two on newer Raspberry Pi systems. Despite those minor caveats, it’s a reliable guide that shortens the distance between idea and working hardware.