CircuitPython is an open-source derivative of the

MicroPython MicroPython is a software implementation of a programming language largely compatible with Python 3, written in C, that is optimized to run on a microcontroller. MicroPython consists of a Python compiler to bytecode and a runtime interpreter of ...

programming language targeted toward students and beginners. Development of CircuitPython is supported by

Adafruit Industries Adafruit Industries is an open-source hardware company based in New York City. It was founded by Limor Fried in 2005. The company designs, manufactures and sells a number of electronics products, electronics components, tools and accessories. It ...

. It is a

software Software is a set of computer programs and associated documentation and data. This is in contrast to hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work. At the lowest programming level, executable code consists ...

implementation of the

Python Python may refer to: Snakes * Pythonidae, a family of nonvenomous snakes found in Africa, Asia, and Australia ** ''Python'' (genus), a genus of Pythonidae found in Africa and Asia * Python (mythology), a mythical serpent Computing * Python (pro ...

programming language A programming language is a system of notation for writing computer programs. Most programming languages are text-based formal languages, but they may also be graphical. They are a kind of computer language. The description of a programming ...

, written in C. It has been ported to run on several modern

microcontroller A microcontroller (MCU for ''microcontroller unit'', often also MC, UC, or μC) is a small computer on a single VLSI integrated circuit (IC) chip. A microcontroller contains one or more CPUs (processor cores) along with memory and programmable i ...

s. CircuitPython consists of a Python compiler to bytecode and a runtime interpreter of that bytecode that runs on the microcontroller hardware. The user is presented with an interactive prompt (the REPL) to execute supported commands immediately. Included are a selection of core Python libraries. CircuitPython includes modules which give the programmer access to the low-level hardware of supported products as well as higher-level libraries for beginners. CircuitPython is a fork of MicroPython, originally created by Damien George. The MicroPython community continues to discuss forks of MicroPython into variants such as CircuitPython. CircuitPython is targeted to be compliant with

CPython CPython is the reference implementation of the Python (programming language), Python programming language. Written in C (programming language), C and Python, CPython is the default and most widely used implementation of the Python language. CP ...

, the reference implementation of the Python programming language. Programs written for CircuitPython-compatible boards may not run unmodified on other platforms such as the

Raspberry Pi Raspberry Pi () is a series of small single-board computers (SBCs) developed in the United Kingdom by the Raspberry Pi Foundation in association with Broadcom. The Raspberry Pi project originally leaned towards the promotion of teaching basic ...

Usage

CircuitPython is being used as an emerging alternative solution for microcontroller programming, which is usually done in C, C++, or assembly. The language has also seen uptake in making small,

handheld video game A handheld game console, or simply handheld console, is a small, portable self-contained video game console with a built-in screen, game controls and speakers. Handheld game consoles are smaller than home video game consoles and contain the cons ...

devices. Developer Chris Young has ported his

infrared Infrared (IR), sometimes called infrared light, is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than those of visible light. It is therefore invisible to the human eye. IR is generally understood to encompass wavelengths from around ...

transmit-and-receive software to CircuitPython to provide interactivity and to aid those with

accessibility Accessibility is the design of products, devices, services, vehicles, or environments so as to be usable by people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design and practice of accessible development ensures both "direct access" (i. ...

issues.

Community

The user community support includes a

Discord Discord is a VoIP and instant messaging social platform. Users have the ability to communicate with voice calls, video calls, text messaging, media and files in private chats or as part of communities called "servers".The developer documenta ...

chat room and product support forums. A

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

account dedicated to CircuitPython news was established in 2018. A newsletter, Python on Hardware, is published weekly since 15 November, 2016 by Adafruit to provide news and information on CircuitPython, MicroPython, and Python on single board computers. A

Reddit Reddit (; stylized in all lowercase as reddit) is an American social news aggregation, content rating, and discussion website. Registered users (commonly referred to as "Redditors") submit content to the site such as links, text posts, images ...

subreddit, r/CircuitPython, provides news on CircuitPython and related news and projects and has about 3,000 members.

Hardware support

The version 6.2.0 supports

Atmel Atmel Corporation was a creator and manufacturer of semiconductors before being subsumed by Microchip Technology in 2016. Atmel was founded in 1984. The company focused on embedded systems built around microcontrollers. Its products included micr ...

SAMD21 and SAMD51 microcontrollers from

Microchip Technology Microchip Technology Inc. is a publicly-listed American corporation that manufactures microcontroller, mixed-signal, analog and Flash-IP integrated circuits. Its products include microcontrollers ( PIC, dsPIC, AVR and SAM), Serial EEPROM ...

, nRF52833 and nRF52840 from

Nordic Semiconductor Nordic Semiconductor (formerly Nordic VLSI) is a fabless semiconductor company headquartered in Trondheim, Norway, and focused on low-power wireless communications devices. Overview The company specializes in ultra-low-power performance wireless ...

, CXD5602 ( Spresense) from

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

, and

STM32 STM32 is a family of 32-bit microcontroller integrated circuits by STMicroelectronics. The STM32 chips are grouped into related series that are based around the same 32-bit ARM architecture, ARM processor core, such as the ARM Cortex-M#Cortex ...

F4-series from

STMicroelectronics STMicroelectronics N.V. commonly referred as ST or STMicro is a Dutch multinational corporation and technology company of French-Italian origin headquartered in Plan-les-Ouates near Geneva, Switzerland and listed on the French stock market. ST ...

. Previous versions supported the

ESP8266 The ESP8266 is a low-cost Wi-Fi microchip, with built-in TCP/IP stack, TCP/IP networking software, and microcontroller capability, produced by Espressif Systems in Shanghai, China. The chip was popularized in the English-speaking maker culture ...

microcontroller, but its support was dropped in version 4. It also supports single-board computers like

References

External links

* * • Tutorials by Tony DiCola /

Adafruit Adafruit Industries is an open-source hardware company based in New York City. It was founded by Limor Fried in 2005. The company designs, manufactures and sells a number of electronics products, electronics components, tools and accessories. It ...

Microcontroller software Python (programming language) {{Software-stub