MicroPython IDE#

ide49 offers a comprehensive set of tools & growing list of examples for developing applications for microcontrollers with special support for MicroPython. The IDE runs on a dedicated computer (Raspberry PI or generic Intel/AMD processor). Each feature runs in a separate Docker container. All features - including installation - are available through a standard web browser - no need to install and maintain complex software on your laptop!

  • Interactive MicroPython coding (Jupyter notebook or rshell)

    • auto-discover and program MicroPython devices

    • powerful file synchronization between the host and microcontrollers

    • wireless access (webrepl)

    • Compile the MicroPython virtual machine

  • VisualStudio Code editor

  • Backup facility (to remote server or local)

  • Mosquitto MQTT broker

  • Wireshark (analyze network traffic)

  • Samba/CIFS server and client

  • Update IDE from within (modify or add features, e.g. support for databases)

  • Shell terminal window (with password free sudo)

Wouldn’t the same software run on a laptop? Absolutely! Without Docker, compatibility could be an issue. For example, jupyter and the balena ide require different versions of node. Docker solves this. However, in ide49 most containers must be run in “privileged” mode, giving them essentially root access. This is an acceptable security risk on a dedicated device that does not store personal information, but a major concern on a computer used e.g. to do banking or store personal data.

But isn’t this slow? Not in my experience. I moved all my MicroPython development from an Intel i7 CPU to a Raspberry Pi 4 with 2 GB memory without noticing a performance degradation relevant for my workflow.