Setting Up Your Environment

Before you start coding, you will need a source code editor to be able to write, load and run programs on your micro:bit. There are four main options:

• In-browser micro:bit editor
• Beginner friendly Mu editor
• MicroPython application if you’re on a ChromeBook
• Your regular Python editor with a suite of CLI commands (advanced)

For the purposes of this tutorial we will be using the Mu editor, but feel free to use whatever suits you better. To download Mu, go to Mu website.

You can choose different options to install Mu. The ones you’ll most likely use is an installer for your device (Mac/Windows), or installation through Python package (pip) using Command Line Interface if you’ve installed Python on your computer.

Note

For those that had worked with Python previously, MicroPython does not support regular Python external libraries, since many are too large for an embedded device. However, a subset was recreated specifically for the MicroPython ecosystem.

Once the editor is installed, run it and plug micro:bit into your computer.