Micro:bit Questions

[TrapdoorSmoke]

I have some questions about BBC Micro:bit.
I couldn't find the answers anywhere.

A. Is the compiler for the device open source?

B. I know the Bord exempts .hex files is this compiled machine binary code or interpreted.

C. Can I compile c and c++ for the device.

[Heater]

No idea.

This is the wrong forum, this is the Raspberry Pi site.

I would hope that Micro:bit uses an ATMEL chip and can be programmed in C/C++ using the opensource avr-gcc compiler. Like the Arduino.

If not, bin it.

[gregeric]

Head over to developer.mbed.org - the micro:bit is an mbed enabled ARM Cortex M0 device. You'll have access to the online c/c++ compiler (Keil backend), or export your project to gcc etc target for offline compiling.

[B.Goode]

I have some questions about BBC Micro:bit.
I couldn't find the answers anywhere.

B. I know the Bord exempts .hex files is this compiled machine binary code or interpreted.

See the last paragraph at https://www.microbit.co.uk/help:

The hex file contains the ARM machine instructions of your compiled script, along with the original script text. This means that: (1) the hex file can be copied onto your BBC micro:bit to run it; (2) the hex file also can be loaded back into the web app for further editing of the script. So, the hex file is a great way to share you script (via email or file sharing services). To load a hex file into the web app, you can either: (1) drag-and-drop the hex file onto the web app; (2) click on the “Import Code” icon in the web app.

PS: I think this question is way out of scope for a forum run by the Raspberry Pi Foundation in support of the Raspberry Pi.

[DougieLawson]

A. Is the compiler for the device open source?

http://codewith.mu/ gives you microPython. You have to compile it from source https://github.com/ntoll/mu or install it with sudo apt-get install mu.

[carlosperate]

A. Is the compiler for the device open source?

Yes, the compiler used is gcc for ARM. But the easiest solution would be to use the mbed toolchain, which is based on yotta, so you would need to get all of that installed as well.

B. I know the Bord exempts .hex files is this compiled machine binary code or interpreted.

The hex file is machine code that gets loaded directly into the microbit flash. Some people might think that MicroPython is interpreted, but that's not quite the case (if you want to know more, you can check out this presentation), nevertheless the micropython output produces a hex file that includes the runtime with your python script attached.

C. Can I compile c and c++ for the device.

Yes, you will need more than just the compiler though, unless you are planning to reimplement all low level stuff. Basically it uses mbed (which uses the nordic libraries for this platform) and a "device abstraction layer" (DAL), more info at http://lancaster-university.github.io/microbit-docs/