[Microbit-Python] Flat API

[Alan]

Hi,

Both the full standard API and the flat one, yes, that's great.  I like "mb" as the module name. 


Cheers,

Alan

Date: Tue, 22 Sep 2015 01:19:20 +0100
From: sparks.m at gmail.com
To: microbit at python.org
Subject: Re: [Microbit-Python] Flat API

2 immediate thoughts:
 - Firstly I like flat APIs for things, and especially for kids. It's simpler to   understand - that why the DAL I designed for the prototype was   simple and deliberately eschewed various OO features.
- Secondly, the advantage of the DAL though is that it is (or should  be) the same across the various platforms/languages. The best  analogy I have here is the sockets API. This is the same in C, ruby,  python, etc, but often you'll also find a local best practice version,  which is often friendlier. That said practicalities here probably decide  whether this is good or bad for the production device's DAL.
Let's assume that this doesn't have to be either/or.
In particular this also means that a child who learns at school they canmake something happen like this:
microbit.pins.pin0.set_digital_value(1)  
In one of the other languages can bring that knowledge with them,when they come to python.  However, it also means they'd be *delighted*to discover that in python they can do this instead:
dpin0 = True
ie support them in the transition.
As a result, if it's not a choice of either/or, but could do both, I wouldsuggest that this would be a good thing. I don't like the word pythonicpersonally, because it's often (ab)used to mean "I do/don't like that".In this case though, I think this makes the attributes equivalent toproperties, and that I quite like and think is a more python-y way ofdoing things that having setter/getter functions.
I like this, though perhaps call the module/package "mb" instead, soyou could do this:
mb.dpin0 = True
... so that it's short and sweet to type, but retains the benefit of namespacing.
</tuppenceworth>
Personally, I have a suspicion that once things become open source, thatsomeone may well do a version 2/3 bit, and so keeping a short/friendlynamespace for this is probably a good idea. (This is complete and utterspeculation incidentally, but I think reasonable speculation)
Regards,

Michael. (who needs to set up a build chain and understand how practical/impractical this is)

On 22 September 2015 at 00:52, Alan <alainjackson at hotmail.com> wrote:




Hi All!

I had a great time with all of you at pycon UK and playing with the microbit, thanks!

On the way home I was thinking a lot about the API and the REPL and 11 year old kids. I had a bit of a thought that I wanted to try out - don't shout and scream and hiss. I don't know how much you'll like it. 

Looking at the microbit module there's very few name clashes within it so I wondered what it would be like if there was a version of it that was almost completely flattened. Especially for using with the REPL. 

Here's my thinking - the hardware isn't going to change (is it?). It's got 20 pins, it's only ever going to have 20 pins, 25 LEDs, 2 buttons etc. So when you're in the REPL, wanting to see immediate results on the hardware itself, and you're in such an small, embedded environment, do you want to type:

  microbit.pins.pin0.set_digital_value(1)  

or would you rather type

  dpin0 = True  ?


Anyway, as a thought experiment, here's an idea of a flattened API. The attributes with an "=" sign means you can assign to them. 


====8<====



Attributes: 

dpin0 =
dpin1 =
.
.
dpin19 =
dpin20 =


apin0 =
apin1 =
.
.
apin19 =
apin20 =

pins.analog_period = 

pixel[0,0] =
brightness =
display_mode =
image =

button_a
button_b

force_x    #accellerometer.get_x()
force_y
force_z

heading 

compass_x
compass_y
compass_z

compass.is_calibrated
compass.is_calibrating

system_time


Methods:

shift_left()
shift_right()
shift_up()
shift_down()

write(...)      #display.print(...)
scroll(...)
animate(...)
clear()

compass.calibrate()
compass.clear_calibration()

i2c.read()
i2c.write(...)

sleep(...)
random()

reset()
panic()



====8<====

My little program that scrolls through a message using the two buttons then becomes:



from flat_microbit import *

message = "1234567890"
index = 0

while True:
    if button_a:
        index = (index - 1) % 10
    elif button_b:
        index = (index + 1) % 10
    
    write(message[index])
    sleep(50)




Cheers,

Alan

 		 	   		  

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