When you learn programming you usually start with a simple Hello World program that prints a message to the screen. Hello World helps you get started by learning the basics of typing in and running code that does something interesting like print to the screen. For hardware projects instead of printing to a screen the simplest Hello World is blinking a LED on and off. If you can blink a LED then you can control the pins on a board, and once you have control of the board there’s almost no limit to what you can do!
This guide walks through how to use MicroPython to blink a LED. You’ll learn how to connect a LED to a board and what MicroPython code to run to make it blink. As you walk through this guide you’ll learn the basics of running MicroPython code and controlling hardware.
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.
