Simon WillisonNov 9, 2022

Huge #python WebAssembly news tucked away in this post: https://www.anaconda.com/blog/pyscript-updates-bytecode-alliance-pyodide-and-micropython

"When you apply MicroPython to Wasm in its default configuration, something new and exciting emerges: With a total size of 303KB, this new runtime loads instantly and starts executing MicroPython logic in less than 100ms."

That means the cost of running Python on a web page is now equivalent to serving up a large hero image!

Anaconda | PyScript Updates: Bytecode Alliance, Pyodide, and…

Earlier this year we unveiled PyScript to enable users to create Python applications in the browser. In order for PyScript to succeed, we at Anaconda must make strategic investments in both the project itself and its core technology dependencies, such as WebAssembly (Wasm) and the fantastic Pyodide…

Anaconda
Show threadSimon WillisonNov 9, 2022

I built Datasette Lite using Python in WebAssembly through Pyodide, and it worked amazingly well - but does come with a significant loading time because regular cPython compiled to WebAssembly is a big dependency to load https://simonwillison.net/2022/May/4/datasette-lite/

Dropping that down to ~300KB of MicroPython would be a huge performance win

Challenge: Datasette needs sqlite3, which isn't included with MicroPython. I wonder how hard it would be to compile this module to WASM too? https://github.com/spatialdude/usqlite

Datasette Lite: a server-side Python web application running in a browser

Datasette Lite is a new way to run Datasette: entirely in a browser, taking advantage of the incredible Pyodide project which provides Python compiled to WebAssembly plus a whole suite …

Show threadSean CoatesNov 9, 2022

@simon I'm definitely not discouraging here, but expect a bit of turbulence with Micropython if you're not doing the most basic things.

My experience is on microcontrollers (ESP32), but there's certainly a "doesn't work this way in cPython" learning curve—or at least there was for me.

Old, unstated #projects entry: https://github.com/scoates/pynel

GitHub - scoates/pynel: Pynel: WS2812B LED Panel controller

Pynel: WS2812B LED Panel controller. Contribute to scoates/pynel development by creating an account on GitHub.

GitHub
Show threadSean CoatesNov 9, 2022
@simon (I expect most of these will get smoothed over with time, but here's an example of a Micropython-specific logic branch https://github.com/scoates/pynel/blob/c6997b2cb88f6ab0076e9c6e5431e4c5863193ae/pynel/board/img.py#L9 )
pynel/img.py at c6997b2cb88f6ab0076e9c6e5431e4c5863193ae · scoates/pynel

Pynel: WS2812B LED Panel controller. Contribute to scoates/pynel development by creating an account on GitHub.

GitHub
Show threadStewart Russell

@sean @simon Not sure if they will: MicroPython aims for small memory footprint primarily. Most of its targets have under 100 K RAM, total.

It also has a tiny dev team (2, at the core who can accept PRs) who are flat out working on contract jobs and perhaps day jobs too. It's a great project, but it might be a difficult culture fit

Nov 9, 2022 at 9:27pmWeb