Community, Education, Creativity
The other big advantage of using Python on
hardware is the people that come with it. Lots
of new users are coming over from the Python
community, many of whom have little or no
experience with hardware. For developers who’ve
never touched a microcontroller, something like
the Circuit Playground Express (CPX) allows them
to experiment with the joy of DIY sensing systems,
blinky lights, and buzzy music without needing all
the tools, electrical engineering knowledge, and
fabrication skills to put together a circuit.
There’s also the cultural aspect: Python is well
known as a language that has a comparatively
diverse, welcoming user base. This is a tradition
that Adafruit are continuing with their family-
friendly, tightly moderated Discord channel which
has over 17,000 members who you can ask for
help troubleshooting your project.
Boards running Python are extremely popular
learning devices in education, from schools
and colleges to families who want to explore
technology at home. The BBC micro:bit alone
has deployed nearly 5 million devices into
education, including 1 million in the UK, 45,000 to
schools across Croatia, and one for every fourth
grade child in Denmark. Microsoft’s MakeCode,
a popular visual block-based programming
environment for Minecraft, micro:bit, CPX, and
other education-focused technologies, added
Python support this year, so students can toggle
back and forth between visual blocks and text-
based Python while they learn the ropes.
Another significant group using Python on
hardware are people who are looking to add
technology into their existing practice — artists,
designers, scientists, and cosplayers who use
hardware as a tool to make their work easier,
cooler, or more exciting. These people, like many
Arduino users, don’t necessarily want to learn to
code to become a programmer, they want to learn
to code so they can make their ideas come to life.
This wide variety of users are exactly what the
team behind CircuitPython — including Scott
Shawcroft, Kattni Rembor, and Anne Barela —
keep in mind when they make decisions about
the direction they take their work in. Kattni
explains that this is why every board they work on
comes with a wide range of learning guides and
ready-to-use examples that are designed around
creative applications of the tech. Scott says their
approach is to minimize the number of computing
concepts people need to know to make useful and
fun things when they’re starting out, saying that
“If it ruins the beginner experience then we’re
not interested.”
GRAB YOUR BOARD Python on Microcontrollers
30 make.co
Get schooled: Millions of students can learn Python on the BBC micro:bit.
The BBC
micro:bit
has deployed
nearly
5 million
devices into
education,
including
45,000 sent
to schools
across
Croatia, and
one sent
to every
single fourth
grade child in
Denmark.
M74_028-34_SS_Python_F1.indd 30M74_028-34_SS_Python_F1.indd 30 7/17/20 10:46 AM7/17/20 10:46 AM
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