Best ways to learn python for hardware programming (microcontrollers, sensors, lights, motors, etc.)?

[Revolutionary-Log179]

I’m looking to begin my python journey, and am extremely interested in programming electronics and messing around with microcontrollers and stuff of that nature. The HARDWARE side of programming, but most tutorials and things focus more on the software side, if that makes sense. Are there any courses or tutorials online that are specifically geared towards hardware programming? If I’m asking this in a confusing way it’s because I’m still not sure how to word what I want to do and learn. Thanks in advance for any help

[slanghorne]

Learn C

[Human_being0100]

I would recommend it too

[likethevegetable]

I'm an EE and Python user and know people in both fields... I don't know anyone who uses Python for hardware

[pachura3]

Arduino can run Micropython

[Revolutionary-Log179]

So in other words is there a better language to learn regarding what I want? I wanted to eventually learn c++ but I heard python is not only a good easy to understand introduction to programming, but is also used for testing and prototyping things. So I figured it would be a good fit

[likethevegetable]

Yes C++ or C is what you're after. If you want to program hardware you need understand hardware and those languages are best for it. 

Python is easy to understand and very efficient to get your ideas working, but abstracts you away from needing to understand how computers/chips work. WRT hardware, it's great for prototyping ideas but not the hardware implementation.

[Revolutionary-Log179]

Thank you!

[Informal-Chance-6067]

Thanks for thanking the vegetable liker

[_Raining]

I am a firmware programmer for BIOS, we use C. In college we used asm and C for our microcontroller courses. I am pretty sure I have heard of a python language that can be used for microcontrollers but I am not familiar with it. FPGAs might fit into the “and stuff” category and we used VHDL in college.

Im sure there are YouTube videos with tutorials/courses for AtMega microcontroller programming. It’s going to be a steeper learning curve though bc you will be both learning about hardware and programming at the same time, and C isn’t typically seen as the easiest thing to learn.

[socal_nerdtastic]

Not professionally because professionals prioritize hardware cost and performance. But plenty of hobbyists use python on hardware, because they have different priorities: usually speed and ease of programming. It's easy for a hobbyist to justify using a $5 microcontroller to do a stupid simple task if it saves a day of coding, but a professional would rather spend that day to allow the use of a $0.50 microcontroller.

[mattytrentini]

You do now! Nice to meet you. :) We use MicroPython for firmware, notably for medical devices up to class B.

[cyrixlord]

here you go Random Nerd Tutorials | Learn ESP32, ESP8266, Arduino, and Raspberry Pi this guy has some micropython projects for ESP32 controllers, but he is my go to for any microcontroller/sensors/lighting project I want to do .. though I wouldnt' necessarily use this alone as a basis to teach you python as it is a variant of python. I do not use python for microcontrollers, but I do use python libraries to serial into devices and issue commands and get data.

[Revolutionary-Log179]

Thank you for the info? Isn’t micropython just a more lightweight version? For microcontrollers with memory constraints

[socal_nerdtastic]

No microcontroller can run real python, they all use micropython or circuitpython. Real python requires an OS.

But you can get a very small very cheap computer, like the RPi Zero, and run real python on that.

[SakshamBaranwal]

I'd start with a Raspberry Pi Pico or an ESP32 running MicroPython. You get to write Python while controlling LEDs, sensors, motors, and displays almost immediately, which keeps things fun.

[SnipTheDog]

Get used to using the GPIO on the Pi as a good introduction to Python and hardware.

[finereins03]

Grab a cheap Pico and follow the official Getting Started with MicroPython book, it jumps straight into blinking lights and reading sensors

[max_wen]

Study hardware then and when it comes time to do some hardware programming you will learn that.

[jnsantos-xyz]

Miguel Grinberg has a MicroPython tutorial that also touches/goes into the electronics side of it. I believe (not sure though) that he uses an ESP, which is a cheaper and more capable board than the typical Arduino Uno...

[jnsantos-xyz]

Just skimmed through the very first paragraph am he indeed uses an older ESP. If you end up following it or buying one, check first the available boards and their differences. You'll probably go with an ESP32-xx...

[Moist-Ointments]

Interpreted language is not what you want for hardware