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CircuitPython

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CircuitPython
Original author(s)Adafruit Industries
Initial releaseJuly 19, 2017; 7 years ago (2017-07-19)[1]
Stable release
9.2.7[2] Edit this on Wikidata / 1 April 2025; 49 days ago (1 April 2025)
Repositoryhttps://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython
Written inC[3]
Platformmicrocontroller and single-board computers using the Atmel SAMD21, Atmel SAMD51, Nordic nRF52840, STMicro STM32, and ESP32, ARMmicrocontrollers, from Adafruit, SparkFun, Arduino, Particle, Raspberry Pi and others
TypePython implementation
LicenseMIT license[4]
Websitecircuitpython.org

CircuitPython[5] is an open-source derivative of the MicroPython programming language targeted toward students and beginners. Development of CircuitPython is supported by Adafruit Industries. It is a software implementation of the Python 3 programming language, written in C.[3] It has been ported to run on several modern microcontrollers.

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.[6]

CircuitPython is a fork of MicroPython, originally created by Damien George.[7] The MicroPython community continues to discuss[8] forks of MicroPython into variants such as CircuitPython.

CircuitPython is targeted to be compliant with CPython, the reference implementation of the Python programming language.[9] Programs written for CircuitPython-compatible boards may not run unmodified on other platforms such as the Raspberry Pi.[10]

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 devices.[11][better source needed] Developer Chris Young has ported his infrared transmit-and-receive software to CircuitPython to provide interactivity and to aid those with accessibility issues.[12]

Community

The user community support includes a Discord chat room and product support forums.[13] A Twitter account dedicated to CircuitPython news was established in 2018.[14] 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.[15] A Reddit subreddit, r/CircuitPython, provides news on CircuitPython and related news and projects and has about 3,000 members.[16]

Hardware support

The version 9.1.0 supports a range of architectures, called "ports":[17]

  • atmel-samd: Microchip SAMD21, SAMx5x
  • cxd56: Sony Spresense
  • espressif: Espressif ESP32, ESP32-S2, ESP32-S3, ESP32-C2, ESP32-C3, ESP32-C6
  • nordic: Nordic nRF52840, nRF52833
  • raspberrypi: Raspberry Pi RP2040
  • stm: ST STM32F4 chip family

These ports are considered alpha and will have bugs and missing functionality:

  • broadcom: Raspberry Pi boards such as RPi 4, RPi Zero 2W (bare metal)
  • litex: fomu
  • mimxrt10xx: NXP i.MX RT10xxx
  • renode: hardware simulator
  • silabs: Silicon Labs MG24 family
  • stm: ST non-STM32F4 chip families

Previous versions supported the ESP8266 microcontroller, but its support was dropped in version 4.[18]

References

  1. ^ Shawcroft, Scott (19 July 2017). "CircuitPython 1.0.0!". Adafruit Blog. Adafruit Industries. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  2. ^ "Release 9.2.7". 1 April 2025. Retrieved 24 April 2025.
  3. ^ a b "adafruit/circuitpython". GitHub. Adafruit Industries. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
  4. ^ George, Damien P. (4 May 2014). "circuitpython/LICENSE". GitHub. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  5. ^ "CircuitPython is an education friendly open-source derivative of MicroPython". GitHub. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  6. ^ "CircuitPython". Read the Docs. Adafruit Industries. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  7. ^ George, Damien (20 May 2016). "Damien P. George". Damien P. George. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  8. ^ "Adafruit CircuitPython". MicroPython Forum. MicroPython.org. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
  9. ^ Lewis, James (14 February 2018). "Circuit Python adds Python to Microcontrollers". The Bald Engineer. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
  10. ^ Ganne, Simon. "Can I use circuitPython code on my raspberry?". Element 14 Community. Element 14.
  11. ^ Dopieralski, Radomir. "CircuitPython LAMEBOY". BitBucket. BitBucket. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
  12. ^ Young, Chris (6 June 2018). "Announcing IRLibCP — a Circuit Python Module for Infrared Transmitting and Receiving". CY's Tech Talk. Chris Young. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
  13. ^ "Adafruit CircuitPython and MicroPython". Adafruit Support Forums. Adafruit Industries. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  14. ^ "CircuitPython". Twitter. Adfafruit Industries. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  15. ^ "The Python on Hardware Newsletter". Adafruit Daily. Adafruit Industries. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
  16. ^ "r/CircuitPython". Reddit.com. Adafruit Industries. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
  17. ^ "CircuitPython 9.1.0". GitHub. 17 July 2024.
  18. ^ "Why are we dropping support for ESP8266?". Adafruit.com. Adafruit Industries. Retrieved 15 April 2019.


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