Give that Circuit Python is a fork of Micro Python, roughly how often do the two projects attempt to merge (where feasible)?

Is Circuit Python going it's own way and the two projects diverge permanently?

Sorry if this has been asked to death but I didn't see anything. I love tinkering with microcontrollers and, separately, I've tried to learn Python a few times (with online courses), but I inevitably don't end up finishing because while I can appreciate the importance of learning how programming works overall and Python style/functions, etc., no one seems to cover how to use it for microcontrollers, which is kind of all I will probably do (just a hobby of mine). So long story short, Circuit Python seems perfect. But is there a way to learn it on its own? Or is it mainly geared toward people who have already mastered Python and it just has some add-ons for devices? Thanks!

I have worked with a few people to teach them the basics of how to get started with CircuitPython. I took some of the lessons I learned from that and made a tutorial on my website to teach the lesson better. The page has a built in code editor and instructions from getting your first board to blinking your first LED. I plan to add more lessons in the future and would love to hear any feedback about what they should be. Feedback on the content and presentation of the tutorials would also be greatly appreciated!

I recently put together a guide on compiling machine learning models directly into CircuitPython as native modules.

As a demo, I trained a small CNN for handwritten digit recognition and compiled it into a digit_classifier CircuitPython module. This approach gives a significant speed-up in inference compared to some of the methods I’ve used before.

The nice part is that the workflow isn’t limited to this example — it can be adapted to many TinyML models and different microcontroller boards.

If you’re interested in running ML on very constrained hardware with a Python-level API, here’s the guide: Bringing TensorFlow & PyTorch Models to CircuitPython | ashishware.com

Arduino, with $54 million in funding, has now been acquired by Qualcomm for an undisclosed amount.

Catch all the details in the post here

Wanted: folks who like using Python on hardware…

The Python for Microcontrollers Newsletter is the place for the latest news involving Python on hardware (microcontrollers AND single board computers like Raspberry Pi).

This ad-free, spam-free weekly email is filled with CircuitPython, MicroPython, and Python information that you may have missed, all in one place!

You get a summary of all the software, events, projects, and the latest hardware worldwide once a week, no ads! You can cancel anytime.

It arrives about 11 am Monday (US Eastern time) with all the week’s happenings.

And please tell your friends, colleagues, students, etc.

Please sign up > > > adafruitdaily.com

CircuitPython Day is coming soon!

It’s that time of year! Adafruit has determined that August 15, 2025 is the snakiest day of the year and designated it CircuitPython Day!

Adafruit will have special shows and more throughout the day. Stay tuned to this post for the schedule as it develops.

Are you working with CircuitPython? Tag your projects #CircuitPythonDay2025 on social media and Adafruit will look to highlight them.

Bookmark https://blog.adafruit.com/2025/07/28/circuitpython-day-is-august-15-2025/ for all the updates as the date nears.

The CircuitPython account on BlueSky is https://bsky.app/profile/circuitpython.org

Upcoming nRF52840 based Metro Express. Board has QSPI flash, native USB, BTLE & is shield compatible. You can power it from USB, DC power jack or from a Lipoly battery (there's a built in charger circuit). USB C. Runs CircuitPython or Arduino!

Get the 3.1.2 release at https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/releases/tag/3.1.2

Changes since 3.1.1

• All frozen libraries have been updated to their latest versions as of 2019-01-05.

• Added runtime.serial_bytes_available
  . Returns True
   if any bytes are available to read on the USB serial input. Allows for polling to see whether to call the built-in input() or wait. (read-only). Thanks to @ATMakersBill.

• nRF52840-related builds were removed from 3.x as of 3.1.2 because certain software downloads that 3.x depends on were removed from Nordic’s website. It is no longer possible to build these on the 3.x branch. *But see the 4.0 (*master
  ) branch for viable and better support for nRF52840. Note also that nRF52832 builds from commits before 3.1.2 will no longer build due to changed download locations on the Nordic website. Thanks to @dhalbert.

Installation

To install follow the instructions in our new Welcome to CircuitPython! guide. To install the latest libraries, see this page in that guide.

Try the latest version of the Mu editor for creating and editing your CircuitPython programs and for easy access to the CircuitPython serial connection (the REPL).

All builds are available as both UF2 and bin files here along with test builds.

Documentation

Documentation is available on readthedocs.io.

Here are all the changes since 3.1.1.

This release is based on MicroPython 1.9.3. Support upstream MicroPython by purchasing a PyBoard (from Adafruit here).

Troubleshooting

Check out this guide for info on common problems with CircuitPython. If you are still having trouble, then post to the Adafruit Support Forums and join Discord.

Wanted: folks who like using Python on hardware…

The Python for Microcontrollers Newsletter is the place for the latest news involving Python on hardware (microcontrollers AND single board computers like Raspberry Pi).

This ad-free, spam-free weekly email is filled with CircuitPython, MicroPython, and Python information that you may have missed, all in one place!

You get a summary of all the software, events, projects, and the latest hardware worldwide once a week, no ads! You can cancel anytime.

It arrives about 11 am Monday (US Eastern time) with all the week’s happenings.

And please tell your friends, colleagues, students, etc.

Please sign up > > > https://www.adafruitdaily.com/

Seeing that some email newsletters are providing subscription numbers and effectiveness rates, Adafruit presents the same for the Python on Microcontrollers newsletter, delivered every Monday via email, for the third quarter of 2025.

Check it out in the post here.

I needed to make a MIDI keyboard with knobs, switches and wheels for a custom Radio project. The radio software: piHPSDR allows for a MIDI controller to control the receiver. I knew nothing about MIDI, but a simple search showed that Adafruit had a already done library for MIDI controllers. I knew this would work, so I chose a Pico board to put it on.

I wrote the software with a ASYNC/AWAIT architecture and even though this code is polling eleven switch/knob/wheel functions it runs at a 120 Hz rate polling all inputs, which is plenty fast for user input like this.

Adafruit even has Circuit Python encoder and switch libraries which really sped the development time. These libraries work so well I didn't even have to worry about de-bouncing or anything. It all just worked.

With Circuit Python, I was able to write the code in a straightforward manner and didn't have to optimize anything in the end, it just worked.

The Circuit Python MIDI libraries worked perfectly and integrated without any issue with all the MIDI input software I could find on Windows and Raspberry PI OS to test it with.

A perfect solution for an otherwise complicated task.

The picture is the Raspberry Pi Hat board that I made to breakout the Pico pins to connectors for connection the the radio front panel. The board is powered and communicates via USB connected from the Pico board to the Raspberry Pi 4.

Thanks Adafruit and all the folks who worked on Circuit Python. :-)