Book Image

BBC Micro:bit in Practice

By : Ashwin Pajankar, Abhishek Sharma, Sandeep Saini
Book Image

BBC Micro:bit in Practice

By: Ashwin Pajankar, Abhishek Sharma, Sandeep Saini

Overview of this book

This book is a one-stop guide for learning BBC Micro:bit with MicroPython, exploring many hardware components and programming techniques to provide detailed insights into developing practical applications with the Micro:bit. It will also show you how hardware components can be manipulated using a combination of Micro:bit and MicroPython for developing practical projects. BBC Micro:bit in Practice will help you gain a holistic understanding of the BBC Micro:bit platform and MicroPython programming, guiding you through mini projects aimed at developing practical knowledge of circuit design and writing programs. You’ll learn how to write programs for working with built-in LEDs and buttons, interfacing external LEDs, buttons, motors, buzzers, and much more. You’ll also work with built-in radio, speakers, accelerometer, and a compass. You’ll dive into concepts related to the Micro:bit filesystem, interfacing external displays, and working with libraries in detail before exploring sewable circuits and wearable technology. After reading this Micro:bit book, you’ll understand how to apply principles in electronics and MicroPython to create interesting real-life projects from scratch.
Table of Contents (22 chapters)
1
Part 1: Getting Started with the BBC Micro:bit
6
Part 2: Programming Hardware with MicroPython
10
Part 3: Filesystems and Programming Analog I/O
13
Part 4: Advanced Hardware Interfacing and Applications

Functions

Let’s understand the concept of functions. They are also called subroutines. They are a common programming practice. If a block of code is too long and repetitively used in the program, then we write that block separately from the other code and assign it a name. We call the block using the assigned name wherever needed. Let’s see an example:

def message():
    name = input("What is your name, My liege : ")
    print("Ashwin is your humble servant, My liege " + name)
print("First function call...")
message()
print("Second function call...")
message()

In this example, we have defined our own function and named it message(). The definition of the function begins with the def keyword. The output is as follows:

>>> %Run -c $EDITOR_CONTENT
First function call...
What is your name, My liege : Henry V
Ashwin is your humble servant, My liege Henry V
Second function call...