Connecting to GPIO headers

For many of our projects, as we will be trying to make them as small as possible, we will probably not make use of the standard GPIO headers, which you most likely received with your Pi Zero W computer. Instead, we will be soldering our cables directly into our Pi Zero W. If you prefer to just test these projects out and would like to reuse your Pi Zero W for other projects, then it will probably make sense to sacrifice a bit of space and attach the GPIO headers to your Pi Zero W. Until recently, you only had one option to do this; solder the headers to your computer! This involves a steady hand, a keen eye, and some patience. I will talk you through this, as we are going to need to solder for many of the projects in this book; so it is a valuable skill to have even if you don't use it to attach headers to your Pi Zero. If the idea of soldering 40 very closely spaced pins onto your Pi Zero fills you with dread, you now have another option; many of the online stores stocking Raspberry Pi components now stock what are known as hammer headers. These allow you t attach the 40 small pins to the GPIO pins of your Pi Zero using only a hammer; no soldering required!