I have been in application and SQL development for many years. I got interested in robotics a couple of years ago and wrote some simple C# programs, Wi-Fi... using Lego Mindstorm robotics kit. It was fun but after a while I really wanted to build a robot from scratch and use my programing skills. The issue, I didn't know a multimeter from an ohm.

If you are a newbie to electronics, can write software, and really want to get into things like the Raspberry PI, you'll need to learn the fundamentals of electronics. This can be overwhelming proposition when just starting out. I bought a book Make: Electronics by Charles Platt. You'll be integrating software and hardware and understanding electronics in just weeks. This is a hands on hands-on book. You will be able to eventually use any of the things on the parts list.