Python everywhere
From simple terminal scripts to research programs, Python is the Swiss knife of programming. Indeed, it is included in almost every Linux distribution by default.
The simplicity of its syntax allows the programmer to learn Python and to develop programs in a record time. Indentation and snake_case (in contrast to camelCase, which is a convention but not required) are two of the elements that help to improve its readability.
# MicroPython
MicroPython is a subset of Python3 optimised to run on microcontrollers and can be found on devices like ESP8266 or the pyboard. When connecting a serial terminal to these devices, an interactive python prompt becomes available as if it was a normal computer.
Having Python on such devices makes development faster, because otherwise, we would have to cross-compile and upload the code to the board for every new piece of code we wrote. On top of the regular Python modules, there are a lot of hardware-specific modules for accessing low-level hardware.
# Raspberry Pi
RPi by the Raspberry Pi Foundation is a tiny computer that intends to democratise the access to a computer; it has the size of a credit card and the prize of a Chromecast (€40). With an ARM processor, many OS can be run on it like Raspbian (a distro based on Debian) which is the Foundation’s official supported OS.
When the RPi project began, its developers decided that Python would be the main programming language of the platform, and by so the GPIO pins have to be controlled with the gpio Python module. (To be fair, you can also control the GPIO pins with C, but that ain’t fun!)
# UK education system
Since September 2014, UK elementary schools have Python in their syllabus. Its easiness makes it perfect for such an environment, and the fact that Python is not a compiled language but an interpreted one helps even more.
This decision helps both students and teachers; students because it makes them have a more rational and ordered mind and teachers because they have to keep studying continuously, which is a strength for an educational system. Big up to the UK.
