So you're looking at the Python editor and wondering what to do. That's
- easy! Let's learn about the different parts of the editor. First of all,
- there are some buttons across the top:
The Python editor is perfect for those who want to push their coding skills further. A selection of snippets and a range of pre-made images and music give you a helping hand with your code. The editor is powered by the global Python Community.
The main menu of the editor contains various buttons that allow you to interact with the editor and the micro:bit device.
+ If you have additional features enabled in the editor, for example WebUSB you may see extra buttons availble in this menu.
+
Pressing the TAB key will move the focus between the buttons. Pressing
- ENTER will activate the highlighted button. If you're in the text window
- (see below) you'll need to press the ESCAPE key to re-focus on the buttons.
- You can, of course, use your mouse.
- 
+
|
Click on the "Download" button to save a special "hex" file on
- your computer. Plug in your BBC micro:bit (it'll show up as USB
- storage) and drag the newly saved file onto the device. Your code
+ computer. Plug in BBC micro:bit (it'll show up as USB
+ storage) and drag the newly saved file onto the device. Code
will run (or you'll see an error message scroll past on the
- device's display). See below for how to extract your code from a
+ device's display). See below for how to extract code from a
hex file back into the editor.
|
- 
+
+
+
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- Click on the "Save" button to save your code onto your computer.
- Because you're downloading Python code your computer might check
+ Click on the "Save" button to save the code onto your computer.
+ Because you're downloading Python code computer might check
you want to save the file. It's trying to protect you from
downloading random software from the internet. But since this is
- your own code you're safe to proceed. See below for how to load
+ own code you're safe to proceed. See below for how to load
code back into the editor.
|
- 
+
+
+
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- It's very easy to load files from your computer into the editor:
- click the load button then drag the file from your computer onto
+ It's very easy to load files from computer into the editor:
+ click the load button then drag the file from computer onto
the grey "drop" area. Alternatively, you could use the file
picker (just click on the link at the bottom to toggle between the
two options). The editor knows how to read Python files (whose name
@@ -125,24 +152,28 @@ Start Here
ends with ".hex").
|
-
+
- 
+
+
+
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- This is an experimental feature. It may change in future
+ This is an experimental feature. It may change in the future
and could contain bugs. Clicking the "Blockly" button
displays a set of drag-and-drop
blocks that can be used to quickly create Python code. Move the
blocks, watch Python code appear and change. Moving such
- blocks will re-write your Python code and you may lose work.
+ blocks will re-write Python code and you may lose work.
Furthermore, the arrangement of blocks is currently not saved,
just the resulting Python code.
|
-
+
- 
+
+
+
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Clicking on the "Snippets" button brings up a menu of Python
@@ -150,40 +181,49 @@ Start Here
re-use in your own programs. There are snippets for most common
things you'll want to do with Python. Select the one you want and
fill in the gaps in the code editor to make it do what you want.
- Snippets are disabled when blockly is enabled.
+ Snippets are disabled when blockly is enabled.
|
- 
+
+
+
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Clicking on the "Help" button gets you here. But you knew that
- already, right..? :-) Notice that your editor is still available
- but in a separate tab in your browser.
+ already, right..? :-) Notice that editor is still available
+ but in a separate tab in browser.
|
-
+
- 
+
+
+
|
Clicking on the "Share" button creates a unique link that points to
- your script. Add this link to your bookmarks to retrieve your code.
- If you share this link others will be able to see your code. So
- your code remains private you must set a password and an optional
+ script. Add this link to bookmarks to retrieve code.
+ If you share this link others will be able to see code. So
+ code remains private you must set a password and an optional
password hint for it. This button is not available if
you're running the editor from a local file system.
|
-
- 
+ |
+
+
+
+
+
+
|
Everyone likes to show off their awesome Python skills. These
buttons are especially useful to zoom-in and zoom-out when you're
- trying to show your code to a large group of people via a
+ trying to show code to a large group of people via a
projector.
|
@@ -192,70 +232,57 @@ Start Here
The name and description for your script is shown on the top
right hand side. Click them to edit them.
- The other part of the editor is the text window:
+ Text window
+ The other part of the editor is the text window, where we edit our scripts.
- It's very simple to use. Just click and type.
-
- The editor tries to help you out by colouring the text to show what
- all the different parts of your program are. For example, Python keywords
+
The editor tries to help out by colouring the text to show what
+ all the different parts of program are. For example, Python keywords
(words built into the Python language) are grey. The brighter coloured
words are bits of the program you have created. Brown words
are constant values that never change and purple words represent
strings of characters to display. All the lines are numbered with the
current line highlighted.
- Do you want to see how the editor actually works? It's easy, to view
- the "source code" press CTRL-U (or CMD-U on a Mac). There's a secret
- message for you in the code. Can you find it?
-
- 
-
Hello, World!
-
- 
A 'Hello, World!' program is traditionally used as a quick test to see if we've got
+ our software or hardware configured correctly.
+
- The version of Python that runs on the BBC micro:bit is called
- MicroPython. It's exactly like real Python except it's designed
- to run on small devices like the BBC micro:bit. Here's the MicroPython code
- you need to make your BBC micro:bit say "Hello, World!". Copy and paste it
- into the Python editor, download it and copy it onto your device (just like
- Yellow and Blue suggest):
+ Here's how we do this in the Python editor:
from microbit import *
display.scroll("Hello, World!")
- The first line (from microbit import *) tells MicroPython
+
The first line (from microbit import *) tells MicroPython
to get all the bits of Python needed to program the micro:bit.
- The second line(display.scroll("Hello, World!")) tells
+
The second line (display.scroll("Hello, World!")) tells
MicroPython to use one of those bits of Python (the display
module) to scroll the text, "Hello, World!" across the physical
- display on the front of the device. It's all remarkably obvious. If you
- followed Yellow and Blue's instructions you should see something like
- this:
+ display on the front of the device.
- 
- Can you make it scroll any other messages? Why not try making your
- BBC micro:bit scroll your name? Remember, MicroPython will scroll
- everything between the "quotation marks".
-
+ When you load the Python editor in your browser, this is the default script you will see,
+ asking the micro:bit to scroll the words across the LED screen and then display an image of a heart.
+ Why not try making the micro:bit scroll your name?
+
+
Blockly
Use blockly to make new Python code from easy to assemble blocks of
code.
Blockly updates Python in the code editor as you move blocks around.
@@ -276,7 +303,8 @@
Blockly
However, by using Blockly you'll very quickly get the hang of how Python
code works and fits together.
-
+
+
Snippets
Snippets are a cool way to avoid typing. The animation below shows you
@@ -292,26 +320,26 @@
Snippets
snippet and then fill in the remaining blocks of code so it does what you
want.
-
When blockly is enabled the "Snippets" button is disabled. This avoids
+
When blockly is enabled the "Snippets" button is disabled. This avoids
snippets from interfering with code that blockly may be generating.
+
+
Bug Fixes
Things will go wrong!
- You have to imagine Python is the most strict English teacher in the
+
You have to imagine Python is the most strict language teacher in the
universe... yes, even more strict than that really strict one you have at
- your school. Put simply, you have to type Python without any
+ school. Put simply, you have to type Python without any
mistakes for it to work.
All programmers make mistakes and create bugs. It's a fact of life.
When you have a bug MicroPython tries to help you out: it will scroll a
- message on its display. It may even include a line number. This message is
- like the first clue in a treasure hunt, you have to figure out the rest
- yourself.
+ message on its display. It may even include a line number.
Common bugs include Syntax Errors (which means you've typed it in
wrong) and Name Errors (that mean you've typed in correct Python, but
@@ -319,19 +347,28 @@
Bug Fixes
If you're unsure what to do
go read the
- MicroPython docs. Alternatively, just ask someone who knows what they're
- doing. If no such person is available you could just follow this handy flow
- chart:
-
- 
-
- Fun Stuff
+ MicroPython docs or open a support request with the micro:bit team.
+ Further Information
+ MicroPython
+ 
+ The version of Python that runs on the BBC micro:bit is called
+ MicroPython. It's exactly like real Python except it's designed
+ to run on small devices like the BBC micro:bit. You can find out more about it
+ on the MicroPython site and by reading the MicroPython for micro:bit reference.
+
+ How the editor works
+ To see how the editor actually works? It's easy, to view
+ the "source code" press CTRL-U (or CMD-U on a Mac). There's a secret
+ message for you in the code. Can you find it?
+ The code for the editor lives in a repository on Github. Github
+ makes it easy to raise a bug report and contribute to the project. For example, here's the HTML code for this help page.
+
+ What next?
Python makes it simple to write powerful programs. Can you work out what
this program does?
@@ -357,20 +394,12 @@ Fun Stuff
How could you improve it? What changes could you make?
-
- If you're looking for inspiration (robots, cool light displays and goofy
- games) you should check out the
- World Tour. These projects
- were created by volunteers from the global Python community (of which you're
- now a member!).
- 
The Editor
+ 
