The book guides readers through building a small 4×4×4 LED cube and creating a block‑based interface to control it. Using this focused project, it demonstrates key computing concepts, including web design, web servers, databases, communications, and hardware integration, while producing a polished and engaging physical artefact.

The book does not attempt to be a comprehensive reference. Instead, it concentrates on practical understanding, showing how different technologies fit together in a complete system and encouraging readers to extend their learning beyond the project itself.

The book is well suited to structured learning environments such as classrooms, technology clubs, and hackspaces, while also offering sufficient depth to interest more experienced makers.

What You'll Learn

• Learn different languages and how they interact
• How functional entities such as databases and web servers can be combined
• How simple packages can be incorporated – such as blockly and nodejs.

Who This Book Is For

This is a beginner based text aimed at students or their teachers. They need to know the basics of programming and most pupils will have used a block based language – such as Scratch – which should be sufficient.

Following a degree at Imperial College, London, Paul Jarvis became a software engineer. During his career he has developed a diverse range of projects: from controlling a sub-sea environmental sensor to programming network hardware; from drawing graphs in Braille to hunting computer viruses.

Education has always taken a prominent role, and Paul has prepared and given courses covering a wide range of computing-related topics. He has published a book on the C programming language with OUP.

The author is a STEM ambassador, hoping to interest the younger generation by demonstrating the wide range of opportunities available in computing, possibly leading them to consider it as a career.