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"Snek: A Python-Inspired Language for Tiny Embedded Computers" - Keith Packard (LCA 2020)

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Published on Jan 15, 2020

Keith Packard

https://lca2020.linux.org.au/schedule...

Tiny embedded computers, like the original Arduino, are great for
automating simple tasks. What they are not great at is providing an
easy-to-learn environment for new programmers.

As a part of a middle school robotics course based on Lego, I've
developed a new language, Snek, which runs on these machines. Snek can
run in as little as 32kB of ROM and 2kB of RAM. It provides a simpler,
safer, easier to explore environment than C++. Snek is a subset of the
Python language and comes with a host-based IDE written in Python that
runs on Linux, Mac OS X and Windows.

This presentation will describe the Snek language along with a few of
the interesting implementation details including:

* A new parser generator, lola, that generates
a parser 1/10 the size of bison

* An in-place compacting garbage collector

* A fine hack for representing values in 32 bits that includes 32-bit
floats

* Some challenges with Python syntax and
semantics which make it difficult to fit into a small
environment.

There will also be a demonstration of a few Snek-based Lego robots
along with a description of how Snek has been integrated into the
classroom environment. Comparisons with other embedded Python
implementations will also be provided, including Micro Python, Circuit
Python and full Python running on systems like the Raspberry PI.

Attendees will learn something about how interpreted Python
implementations operate, how Python can be used in embedded systems
and what teaching programming to middle school students (10-14 years
old) is like.

linux.conf.au is a conference about the Linux operating system, and all aspects of the thriving ecosystem of Free and Open Source Software that has grown up around it. Run since 1999, in a different Australian or New Zealand city each year, by a team of local volunteers, LCA invites more than 500 people to learn from the people who shape the future of Open Source. For more information on the conference see https://linux.conf.au/

Produced by NDV: https://youtube.com/channel/UCQ7dFBzZ...

#linux.conf.au #linux #foss #opensource

Wed Jan 15 10:45:00 2020 at Arena

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