Programming with MicroPython

Foreword

In late 2012, I had an idea to build a tiny, low-powered computing machine that could run scripts directly on the “bare metal” of the underlying hardware. The aim was to make it extraordinarily easy for anyone—no matter his or her background nor technical skill level—to be able to make a digital device that uses 1’s and 0’s to control the real world. In my particular case, I wanted an easier way to program the little robots that I was building at the time.

At first I didn’t have any particular scripting language in mind for this device, but after investigating what would be a good choice for the language, and what people would like writing in and would find easy to learn, I chose Python.

I was also interested in running a Kickstarter campaign, to see if people liked the idea and to perhaps begin to build a community around the project. The first Kickstarter campaign that ran at the end of 2013 really did kick start MicroPython: it raised funds to build 3,000 pyboards upon which MicroPython would run; it brought nearly 2,000 people into the initial community; and it attracted some very talented programmers who volunteered their time and expertise to contribute to and improve MicroPython.

My background is theoretical physics, so I approach the design and development of MicroPython from a much more academic and research-oriented point of view, compared to simply engineering a solution to a problem. I believe this has been part of the reason for the success of MicroPython. ...