An Interview with Tony DiCola

Welcome Tony DiCola of Adafruit!

• Tony has been working on MicroPython tutorials since joining Adafruit
• Python has been around for a long time, but most people are referring to Cpython. It has a large fan base and lots of library support like NumPy and SciPy.
• Micropython was developed in 2013 by Damien George for memory constrained environments. It has roughly 90% compatibility with regular Python.
• Python runs on other higher power platforms like the BeagleBone black and Raspberry Pi, which Adafruit also has lots of great tutorials about.
• There are limited number of boards running MicroPython
  • PyBoard - STM32F4
  • ESP8266 - 84 MHz, 96k
  • BBC Micro:bit (Uses an NRF51 - 16K)
  • CC3100 WiPy
  • SAMD21 - CortexM0, 32K, 48 MHz
• MicroPython shows a REPL when you connect via serial port. It looks very much like a command prompt.
• You can mix C and MicroPython, which makes it an interesting candidate for low level hardware operations. You can also hook into assembly using a special decorator. Compilation happens in pre processor.
• There is a default FAT file system in flash.
• You can boot right into a script by having main.py in the file system. Other files can be used in the file system to represent libraries.
• PIP is a default way to install libraries on desktop Python, this might get added to MicroPython.
• The .mpy file format is a condensed versions of files, which prevents comments take up room in flash / ram.
• ESA is considering using MicroPython on satellites because they are relatively easier to reconfigure.
• Chris has been using the Huzzah Feather board and the associated LED Featherwing. Great for trying out the setup!
• Follow Tony and the Adafruit feed on Twitter!