From the course: Learning CircuitPython with Circuit Playground Express

CircuitPython overview - Python Tutorial

From the course: Learning CircuitPython with Circuit Playground Express

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CircuitPython overview

- [Instructor] Welcome to CircuitPython, one of the easiest to learn and most fun ways to program microcontrollers. Microcontrollers are everywhere, from televisions to spaceships. They connect to sensors and other components to collect data and control things in the real world. Just like any computer, microcontrollers are programmed with applications using one of the many programming languages. One very popular programming language is Python. Python is powerful, but easy to learn, and was designed from the start to be fun. In fact, Python's inventor was inspired by "Monty Python's Flying Circus," a British comedy show. Some programming languages have to be processed or compiled before being used. Python is what's called an interpreted language and is used directly by the computer without compiling. The process of compiling and uploading can be time-consuming. Interpreted languages make development process more interactive. But programs aren't usually as fast as compiled ones. Microcontrollers have traditionally used compiled languages. But as technology has evolved, interpreted languages have become more practical. MicroPython is an open source project that makes Python available on microcontrollers. CircuitPython is built on MicroPython with an emphasis on ease of learning and consistency. If you have experience using Python, you'll find that CircuitPython is very familiar. If you don't have experience, no worries. You'll find out how easy CircuitPython is to learn and use. CircuitPython supports an increasing number of development boards, making it easy to transfer skills from one project to another. For this class, we'll be using the Circuit Playground Express from Adafruit. It's CircuitPython compatible and has lots of sensors and other built-in components that make a wide range of projects possible. CircuitPython is being actively developed and new versions are released frequently. Fortunately, as we'll see, it's easy to update. The official source of CircuitPython information and new releases is the main CircuitPython website, CircuitPython.org. And finally, CircuitPython technical documentation is kept up to date with each release and is located on a site called Read the Docs. It's a great place to browse if you want to know all of the details.

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