This week the Adafruit team announced the release of CircuitPython 8.0.0, the latest major version of CircuitPython, a new stable version. Notable changes in 8.0.0 since the release of 7.3.0 include the ability to add a WiFi workflow with browserbased device discovery, file system browsing, upload, download, file editing, serial/REPL connection (available on Espressif and Pi Pico W) .
Along with a oneline status bar that displays the connection status, last exception, and version in the title bar of a terminal window or the top line of an attached display. Mu 1.2.0 and Thonny 4.0.x and later may hide status line information in REPL output.
SchemaPython 8
Adding functionality
- The settings.toml file in CIRCUITPY contains the values of the environment variables. Some value names are read by CircuitPython to indicate WiFi connection options, BLE name, and other startup values. But you can also use settings.toml to specify your own settings for your programs. Values from settings.toml can be retrieved with os.getenv(). Read more here.
- WiFi functionality implemented on Raspberry Pi Pico W.
- Revised Espressif camera support now available on ESP32, ESP32S2 and ESP32S3.
- Bulk analog input: Analogbufio (only available on RP2040 for now).
- The state of the pin can be saved during deep sleep (only available on Espressif for now).
- Allow USB VID, PID, Manufacturer, and Product IDs to be set at runtime.
- Include collections.deque in most builds.
- AnalogIn values have the full range of 0 to 65535, instead of zeros in the least significant bits.
- The ability to update the firmware inplace (dual bank) can be disabled at runtime in favor of a larger CIRCUITPY drive. This is the default value.
- Add TileGrid.contains().
- Add os.utime().
- Add the espulp module to run programs on the ULP coprocessor in Espressif chips.
- Add a memory card module for general but limited access to various areas of memory.
- A serial “break” of the USB serial connection or UART REPL will cause a keyboard interrupt, e.g. ctrlC. The advantage over ctrlC is that the break is broken even if the input buffer is full.
- Add a hidden property to vector shapes.
- Add native support for _pixelmap.PixelMap for speed.
- Exception chains are now implemented.
- Add the VfsFat.readonly property.
- Add a memory card to allow access to raw memory cells (currently only on Espressif). #7359. Thanks @tannewt.
For those not familiar with CircuitPython, it is based on Python. Python is the fastest growing programming language. This is taught in schools and universities. It is a high level programming language which means it is easier to read, write and maintain. It supports modules and packages, making it easy to reuse your code for other projects.
For more information, visit the official Adafruit CircuitPython 8 GitHub page using the link below.
Source: GitHub: Adafruit
Headings: Technology news, Main news
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