Re: @TechnicalBen
Downvotes on here are an odd thing.
I just remember you can only please all of the people some of the time. That and some people are arses all of the time ;-)
You are of course correct. 99% of Pi projects are python scripts running under Linux. Which adds a whole load of code overhead. When it's a box on your desk this isn't really an issue, and does make a lot of things much easier.
However, if you're trying to build something self contained and with the longevity of an elephant instead of a mayfly, you need to lose a lot of dead wood.
If you're still measuring your power consumption in milliamps, you're not even in the same ball-park as what you can get up to with a proper low power device.