7 ms·

To be fair, this is really mostly just a rebranded MicroPython...

by Ecco 6y ago

animal_spirits 6y ago
It has 7,000 more commits than MicroPython, to say it is a rebrand is unfair.
- gedy 6y ago
  I read the readme differences, but any obvious benefits to one or the other?
  - genmud 6y ago
    Core modules are a bit better laid out, meaning you will have a more unified experience across different dev boards. Additionally, there are more boards that appear to be supported, but don't quote me on it. Things like os/time/filesystem stuff act how you would expect running cython. IIRC the big selling point is anything that you can run on CircuitPython you can run in cython, whereas with MicroPython some of the OS and time functions act differently, so might not work without code changes.
    - shakna 6y ago
      Point of clarification: By Cython do you mean Cython or CPython?
  - schappim 6y ago
    I was just having a chat w/ a contributor yesterday and he told me a large aim of Circuit Python over MicroPython is to make the code you are writing in Circuit Python more transportable. I.e. You write code in circuit python, and that same code will run on a little micro, and also a full blown Raspberry Pi. This is apparently done at the expense of some prettiness.
- stinos 6y ago
  You probably looked at the 'xxx ahead, yyy commits behind miscropython' bit here and subtracted them to get that number? Even though I agree CP is definitely more than just a rebrand (in fact it's fairly interesting what they did), relating number of commits to the rebranding statement is not entirely correct. Because you're measuring features and/or amount of work done in number of commits, and that is not a simple fixed relationship. Just browse the first couple of commit pages [1] to see what I mean (just 2 examples: a commit with message 'pre-commit' which deletes 4 newlines, a commit with message 'alphabetical' which moves 2 statements around). Could also take a look at the MicroPython commits [2] in turn to see what a, in my opinion, very sane git tree looks like) [1] https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/commits/main https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/commits/main [2] https://github.com/micropython/micropython/commits/master https://github.com/micropython/micropython/commits/master
genmud 6y ago
While yes, its forked from MicroPython, saying it is just rebranded is almost like saying Ubuntu is just rebranded Debian. The biggest difference is how they handle core modules... rather than having a per-port/board they have a common set of core modules. There are also a lot more of those modules and it seems to have a fairly robust set of hardware/boards that are supported. I'll be the first to admit that I don't do a whole lot in either since the boards I work on are a bit resource constrained. The other thing to note is that Adafruit is putting a ton of resources into CircuitPython, I see updates/improvements all the time from them in their git repo. The velocity in CircuitPython vs MicroPython appears to be significantly higher (and that by no means is a dig at MicroPython, I love their project and they have so much cool stuff going on).
- martyvis 6y ago
  I have played a bit with MicroPython and I had heard of CircuitPython but wasn't across the differences and reasoning behind the fork. Limor actually did the Sunday morning Keynote at the the Linux.Conf.Au conference held over last weekend where she went into into a lot of things that were around repeatability and accessibility especially for novice programmers. The video will have been recorded but yet to be published and I would expect it to be linked from the abstract page [1] soon and/or on the LCA YouTube [2] channel. [1] https://linux.conf.au/schedule/presentation/122/ https://linux.conf.au/schedule/presentation/122/ [2] https://www.youtube.com/c/linuxconfau/featured https://www.youtube.com/c/linuxconfau/featured
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
- martyvis 6y ago
  As promised, here is the keynote speech at linux.conf.au last weekend by Limor Fried from Adafuit on the reason and drivers behind CircuitPython https://youtu.be/jZnDCs80b_A https://youtu.be/jZnDCs80b_A
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
wt8008 6y ago
I like to think that MicroPython is more like a base project without a standard hardware library/abstraction layer. CircuitPython took MicroPython and built a hardware abstraction layer on top. It makes hardware level access more standardized and you can take your project to a different microcontroller board. CircuitPython only supports a limited number of boards. If scripting for microcontrollers become more mainstream, it can enable new applications and use cases that do not require a forced firmware re-flashing to change the code.
- systemvoltage 6y ago
  Then it should have been a library, not a fork.
systemvoltage 6y ago
Support MicroPython. Adafruit has commercial interests - they're building CircuitPython so that people buy their stuff. They're a multi-million dollar corporation, not your mom and pop hobby shop. Instead of doubling down on MicroPython, Adafruit decided to fork it so they can have the right HALs. They should have made a library, contributed to MicroPython and grown the ecosystem. Unrelated, I absolutely despise Adafruit customer service - they're demeaning and belittling. I wanted to return items because they were not as described in the pictures - their response was we don't guarantee that. OK. So, you buy stuff off of AliExpress and put a 3x markup and you can't guarantee your supply chain? I now buy all my electronics from DigiKey and Sparkfun.
- IgorPartola 6y ago
  Out of curiosity which products did you buy and what was different about them? Also, multi million could mean $2m/year which if you pay your employees well would translate to like 25 employees if you make no profits and only pay salaries. Lastly, having bought loads of stuff from AliExpress and recently from AdaFruit, the latter absolutely has higher quality items. They are not simply reselling what’s available directly from China but are legitimately designing their own boards which are better thought out than the generic parts you can get for cheaper.
sarusso 6y ago
Yep. AFAIK CircuitPython focuses more on low memory microcontrollers and less on connectivity.
dkjaudyeqooe 6y ago
Sure and they provide support for it, also so they can configure and customise it whichever way they see fit. For most non-programmers (which is the target) support is much more important than issues with forks or OSS politics.

To be fair, this is really mostly just a rebranded MicroPython...

by Ecco 6y ago

To be fair, this is really mostly just a rebranded MicroPython...

animal_spirits 6y ago

It has 7,000 more commits than MicroPython, to say it is a rebrand is unfair.

gedy 6y ago
I read the readme differences, but any obvious benefits to one or the other?
- genmud 6y ago
  Core modules are a bit better laid out, meaning you will have a more unified experience across different dev boards. Additionally, there are more boards that appear to be supported, but don't quote me on it. Things like os/time/filesystem stuff act how you would expect running cython. IIRC the big selling point is anything that you can run on CircuitPython you can run in cython, whereas with MicroPython some of the OS and time functions act differently, so might not work without code changes.
  - shakna 6y ago
    Point of clarification: By Cython do you mean Cython or CPython?
- schappim 6y ago
  I was just having a chat w/ a contributor yesterday and he told me a large aim of Circuit Python over MicroPython is to make the code you are writing in Circuit Python more transportable. I.e. You write code in circuit python, and that same code will run on a little micro, and also a full blown Raspberry Pi. This is apparently done at the expense of some prettiness.
stinos 6y ago
You probably looked at the 'xxx ahead, yyy commits behind miscropython' bit here and subtracted them to get that number? Even though I agree CP is definitely more than just a rebrand (in fact it's fairly interesting what they did), relating number of commits to the rebranding statement is not entirely correct. Because you're measuring features and/or amount of work done in number of commits, and that is not a simple fixed relationship. Just browse the first couple of commit pages [1] to see what I mean (just 2 examples: a commit with message 'pre-commit' which deletes 4 newlines, a commit with message 'alphabetical' which moves 2 statements around). Could also take a look at the MicroPython commits [2] in turn to see what a, in my opinion, very sane git tree looks like) [1] https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/commits/main https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/commits/main [2] https://github.com/micropython/micropython/commits/master https://github.com/micropython/micropython/commits/master

genmud 6y ago

While yes, its forked from MicroPython, saying it is just rebranded is almost like saying Ubuntu is just rebranded Debian. The biggest difference is how they handle core modules... rather than having a per-port/board they have a common set of core modules. There are also a lot more of those modules and it seems to have a fairly robust set of hardware/boards that are supported. I'll be the first to admit that I don't do a whole lot in either since the boards I work on are a bit resource constrained. The other thing to note is that Adafruit is putting a ton of resources into CircuitPython, I see updates/improvements all the time from them in their git repo. The velocity in CircuitPython vs MicroPython appears to be significantly higher (and that by no means is a dig at MicroPython, I love their project and they have so much cool stuff going on).

martyvis 6y ago
I have played a bit with MicroPython and I had heard of CircuitPython but wasn't across the differences and reasoning behind the fork. Limor actually did the Sunday morning Keynote at the the Linux.Conf.Au conference held over last weekend where she went into into a lot of things that were around repeatability and accessibility especially for novice programmers. The video will have been recorded but yet to be published and I would expect it to be linked from the abstract page [1] soon and/or on the LCA YouTube [2] channel. [1] https://linux.conf.au/schedule/presentation/122/ https://linux.conf.au/schedule/presentation/122/ [2] https://www.youtube.com/c/linuxconfau/featured https://www.youtube.com/c/linuxconfau/featured
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
martyvis 6y ago
As promised, here is the keynote speech at linux.conf.au last weekend by Limor Fried from Adafuit on the reason and drivers behind CircuitPython https://youtu.be/jZnDCs80b_A https://youtu.be/jZnDCs80b_A

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

wt8008 6y ago

I like to think that MicroPython is more like a base project without a standard hardware library/abstraction layer. CircuitPython took MicroPython and built a hardware abstraction layer on top. It makes hardware level access more standardized and you can take your project to a different microcontroller board. CircuitPython only supports a limited number of boards. If scripting for microcontrollers become more mainstream, it can enable new applications and use cases that do not require a forced firmware re-flashing to change the code.

systemvoltage 6y ago
Then it should have been a library, not a fork.

systemvoltage 6y ago

Support MicroPython. Adafruit has commercial interests - they're building CircuitPython so that people buy their stuff. They're a multi-million dollar corporation, not your mom and pop hobby shop. Instead of doubling down on MicroPython, Adafruit decided to fork it so they can have the right HALs. They should have made a library, contributed to MicroPython and grown the ecosystem. Unrelated, I absolutely despise Adafruit customer service - they're demeaning and belittling. I wanted to return items because they were not as described in the pictures - their response was we don't guarantee that. OK. So, you buy stuff off of AliExpress and put a 3x markup and you can't guarantee your supply chain? I now buy all my electronics from DigiKey and Sparkfun.

IgorPartola 6y ago
Out of curiosity which products did you buy and what was different about them? Also, multi million could mean $2m/year which if you pay your employees well would translate to like 25 employees if you make no profits and only pay salaries. Lastly, having bought loads of stuff from AliExpress and recently from AdaFruit, the latter absolutely has higher quality items. They are not simply reselling what’s available directly from China but are legitimately designing their own boards which are better thought out than the generic parts you can get for cheaper.

sarusso 6y ago

Yep. AFAIK CircuitPython focuses more on low memory microcontrollers and less on connectivity.

dkjaudyeqooe 6y ago

Sure and they provide support for it, also so they can configure and customise it whichever way they see fit. For most non-programmers (which is the target) support is much more important than issues with forks or OSS politics.