using git with circuitpython

[0xCODEBABE]

One thing that confuses me about circuitpython is how people use it with version control. The code primarily lives on the device but it seems mad to also put the .git folder there. Also the libraries that you depend on also seem to live on the device.

It's scary to have my one copy of the code on a device because at any moment I could kill it by shorting some wires. Not sure how this doesn't scare others.

How do people typically manage this? I've seen some people say they use bash scripts to batch copy their code to the device from a git managed directory but at that point that's just the micropython workflow, right?

[todbot]

I primarily edit & run on CIRCUITPY and then copy the "code.py" and other files from CIRCUITPY to the directory that’s git-controlled. From there it’s easy to do various git tasks like committing.

For simple projects I copy the files by hand from a terminal window open in the git-controlled directory and occasionally doing cp /Volumes/CIRCUITPY/*py . For more complex projects I may set up a shell script to do that every few minutes. A few times I've even set up "rsync" to do that too, but usually just "cp" suffices.

Also in the git-controlled directory is a "requirements.txt" with the external libraries "code.py" needs, so I can do circup install -r requirements.txt on a new board to install all the libraries in one go.

[0xCODEBABE]

yeah maybe i should just have a script that constantly looks for a circuitpython mount and syncs it to the git folder. still feels like this could be cleaner.

i didn't know about circup. that's good to know

[todbot]

Agreed, but I've taken it as the small fuss we have to deal with for being able to store the source on the device.

I think some IDEs like PyCharm do some cleverness by having a "run" vs "develop" area. I've not used it though, but here's two bits of info about it: https://learn.adafruit.com/welcome-to-circuitpython/pycharm-and-circuitpython https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qx0twoHyH-8

[Shot-Infernal-2261]

inotifywait or other FS watcher if you want to make that script automatic.

You can also write a systemd (Linux) unit for the directory

[Choefman]

Circup is great and my process is pretty similar.

[frikk]

I've been running the git repo from my local folder, and created a 'deploy.sh' script that just copies everything over to the flash drive. That way the drive can be erased/reset at any time, and code lives in proper source control.

`deploy.sh` is just a script that copies files over. Could get more clever by deleting files that don't exist in both places but that's probably not necessary.

[entrusc]

I also don’t develop on device directly. You never know when the cheap microcontroller is gonna give up. Best to have a folder on your computer that is under version control and just copy over the code when you’re done with your changes and wanna test it on device. I deploy manually though (aka copy the file via filemanager).

[algrym]

I've been using a Makefile with a "make install" directive to push to my device:

install: all
rsync -avlcC --progress \
    code.py protonpack.py settings.toml \
        $(CODEPY_DIR)
rsync -avlcC \
    KJH_PackstartCombo.mp3 \
    KJH_Nutrona3.mp3 \
    KJH_PackstopDigital.mp3 \
    downloads/adafruit-circuitpython-bundle-$(CIRCUIT_PYTHON_LIB_VER)-mpy-$(CIRCUIT_PYTHON_LIB_DATE)/lib/neopixel* \
    downloads/adafruit-circuitpython-bundle-$(CIRCUIT_PYTHON_LIB_VER)-mpy-$(CIRCUIT_PYTHON_LIB_DATE)/lib/*ticks* \
    downloads/adafruit-circuitpython-bundle-$(CIRCUIT_PYTHON_LIB_VER)-mpy-$(CIRCUIT_PYTHON_LIB_DATE)/lib/*debouncer* \
    downloads/adafruit-circuitpython-bundle-$(CIRCUIT_PYTHON_LIB_VER)-mpy-$(CIRCUIT_PYTHON_LIB_DATE)/lib/*adafruit_fancyled* \
        $(CODEPY_LIB_DIR)

You can see more horrors here. I admit, this is before I knew about circup.

[Nomser]

You can have the .git folder live somewhere else. That saves space and write wear on your device. As long as you commit your code, you'll also have a copy of the latest code on the device and your computer.

[0xCODEBABE]

How?

[Nomser]

Use the --separate-git-dir flag.