@rmoore I started off figuring out the GPIO pins on the bare Raspberry Pi, and once you get your head around that, moving to the Unipi is the next logical step. I did'nt use this article, but it explains just about all that you need.
http://makezine.com/projects/tutorial-raspberry-pi-gpio-pins-and-python/
The Evok "platform" can be used as well, and I use it via the restful calls for setting some of the relays.
If you've not got a Pi already, get a Pi and try the small tutorial above. After that it's straight forward enough.
Merv.