Python for Microcontrollers: Getting Started with MicroPython

Having had this book for about 3 months now, and read most of it, I would say we have had a bit of a 'love - hate' relationship. The positive points for me are:- The book gathers a great deal of information on 3 major MicroPython hardware platforms in one place - that alone might be sufficient reason to buy it.- The book is project-oriented, which is often a very good way to learn a subject. The projects are clearly explained for the most part- There is a good level of technical depth in that the author often attempts to provide background information and explanations, as opposed to just presenting a project solution. There are also many code examples that are instructive.My 'problems' with the book are:- The back cover says: "Program your own .. projects with ease -- no prior programming experience necessary". This is marketing nonsense.- The author's writing style is a bit tedious at times. He has a habit of ending each minor section of the book with "next I will discuss ...", and includes an introduction and summary for each chapter. Unfortunately, these intros and summaries do not contain any useful information, but just a rehash of what he covered in the chapter.- The book sometimes reads as though a class lecture was recorded and then transcribed and edited into a book. There are too many "I's" and off-handed comments.- There are places where some readers might well want more information, but the author decides he won't go any further, notably the discussion on WiPy wi-fi modes where he decides not to discuss Direct mode because "the station and access point ... are all that I need to illustrate networking..." and the discussion of the basic theory of GPS where he states: "you need a fourth [GPS] beacon ... I am not going to go through the whole process again as I think you have it figured out by now". How would you know?- In his (laudable) attempt to provide additional interesting information, he sometimes gets it wrong. In the discussion about GPS clock accuracy he introduces and tries to explain time dilation and Special Relativity. He says that a space traveler moving at the speed of light would make a roundtrip to Alpha Centauri in about 10 years, while his 'twin' back on earth would age 50 years! That's just incorrect. The roundtrip at light speed takes 10 years on earth, but the astronaut experiences a slowing of clocks (and a foreshortening of distance) such that he perceives the trip as taking only 2-3 years (depending on how close to the speed of light he travels).I could go on with other examples. Many of these problems (especially the writing and stylistic ones) could have been avoided by a more rigorous editing process, so it's unfortunate that they were allowed to pass.One other note (which the author readily acknowledges, to his credit): these hardware and software platforms are evolving rapidly, and some of the information in the book is already dated and incorrect. For example, I spent several hours trying to connect to a WiPy as an Access Point, only to discover (after a significant loss of hair), that Pycom had changed the WPA key and the WiPy's IP address! So it pays to check out these things yourself.So, I'm really somewhere between a 3 and 4 on this book, but with all the information and examples included, and coverage of three hardware platforms all in one place, I give an extra 0.5 for effort!

As much as I love Donald Norris's books I have to say this one is not extremely useful. By the time I bought it it was very outdated and all the information can be found online. I wouldn't recommend buying this one but I am certain other books of his can help you with other projects.

Found it to be the ideal introduction to MicroPython, with great coding examples for a wide variety of projects. Also covers many of the new microcontrollers from Pycom. Although too new to be included in this book, the general code examples will be useful for coding the new OpenMV M7 camera modules that use MicroPython.

Python for Microcontrollers is a small book about running Python on various microcontroller boards. Many hackers will be particularly interested in running Micropython on the ESP8266 because of how cheap various ESP8266 modules are. Sadly, this book's content is not impressive.The most important thing about this book is that it DOES NOT cover the Python language and is NOT a hand-holding tutorial (So much for the "Getting Started" in the title).Unfortunately this book has a number of flaws/omissions:- In Chapter 6 there is a section titled "Playing MP3 Files" but the code doesn't actually play MP3s, but short (less than 2 seconds!) .WAV files. Where did the "MP3" title come from?- The ESP8266 modules covered are NOT the popular and easily available NodeMCU or Wemos D1 Mini modules but the Adafruit Huzzah (which is more expensive than the above modules) and also the bare ESP-12E module. Working with the above modules is much easier than the bare ESP-12E so I'm not sure why this was selected.- In the ESP8266 section (Chapter 9) the author wastes some space talking about the 2.4GHz antenna trace length calculation on the ESP-12E and proving that the antenna is indeed a 2.4GHz antenna. This serves no useful purpose as users really don't care about the antenna once they can program the thing to do what they want.- Chapter 9 mentions that MQTT is a work in progress and there is no coverage but umqtt modules are now built-in to Micropython. MQTT is a very popular and easily implemented communications protocol but you wouldn't find any info in this book.- The mention of WebREPL for the 8266 doesn't make it clear that the benefit is that you are no longer restricted by communicating via USB. The instructions are also out of date (you need to do 'import webrepl_cfg' via USB terminal and setup a password so that you have some security). The book does not have information about the WebREPL password.- ESP8266: doesn't mention I/O sink/source current limits (and voltage levels) for I/O pins. How are you supposed to interface devices (such as driving LEDs) without this data?In a sense the problem with this book is the technical content is out of date - the book was written in Fall 2016 and covers v1.8.2, but the current version at the time of this review is v1.9.2. Not all of the book's problems are the fault of the author, as technical books tend to become irrelevant extremely quickly (especially for evolving projects like Micropython).The other thing about this book is that it is covering too many different boards in such a small book - the Pyboard, ESP8266, and WiPy. I would have settled for only Pyboard and expanded ESP8266 coverage using NodeMCU and Wemos D1 Mini/Pro modules (and ESP32 when it becomes mature)SUMMARY: I would suggest browsing online resources instead of this book if you are not an absolute beginner. If you don't know Python you will have to do this anyway since this does not teach the language. This book attempts to straddle electronics, python, and micropython topics but there is much missing from the book. (To be fair it would take a full size book to cover these, instead of the existing "mini" sized book)I hope you have found this review useful!

Nice little book, helps you get started with the Micro Python board. You'll still need to download the documentation from the Micro Python website, however.

I bought my MicroPython board (PYBv1.0) with all the accessories (LCD and Amp) about 18 months ago but never hooked it up until I got this book last week. It's exactly what the doctor ordered to get me started! Very logical and very well written. Python is my regular language of choice on PC's and this book builds on what I already knew but from an embedded device point of view. Within a couple of days I had my LCD outputting "Hello World", playing sounds and leds flashing! I'm really enjoying the book and trying out all the examples. MicroPython is definitely the way to go - it's so easy to get hardware to do whatever you want. This book is indispensable. You won't be disappointed!HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! AAA+++

Great starter book for Micropython . Full of examples and programs to try but will need additional parts (sensors, switches, LEDs) for many of the projects.

The descriptions states, "Explore the powerful features of the Pyboard, ESP8266, and WiPy"Since I'm programming the ESP8266 this book has almost nothing. The first 200 pages are Pyboard specific and only one short chapter covers ESP8266.

El libro es muy completo y tiene unos buenos ejemplos donde te va explicando paso a paso los temas, las personas que no deben de comprar este libro son las que no estén muy familiarizadas con cuestiones electronicas, me encanta programar en python por lo que lo recomiendo ampliamente para personas que conozcan del lenguaje.

Das war mein erstes Buch über Micropython. Das Buch beschreibt nicht nur die ursprüngliche Micropython-Platine (sog. Pyboard), sondern auch anderen Boards die mit Python verwendbar sind (z.B. ESP8266).Dieses Buch hat mir zu Micropython Lust gemacht.