# An Interview with Scott Shawcroft

- Show: [The Amp Hour](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour)
- Published: 2018-03-12
- Length: 1h 45m
- Episode: 383
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2018-03-12-an-interview-with-scott-shawcroft
- Listen: https://theamphour.com/383-an-interview-with-scott-shawcroft/

## Summary

Chris Gammell, a software engineer at Adafruit, explains the architecture and philosophy behind CircuitPython, the fork of MicroPython designed for beginners. He details the technical differences between interpreted and compiled languages, the use of a virtual machine to execute byte code, and the uniform API that allows drivers to work across different microcontroller families like the SAMD21 and SAMD51. Gammell also walks through the low-level debugging process using J-Link and GDB, explaining how hardware breakpoints and the Micro Trace Buffer help troubleshoot firmware issues.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2018-03-12-an-interview-with-scott-shawcroft#t=0) Introduction and Chris Gammell's Background
- [13:11](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2018-03-12-an-interview-with-scott-shawcroft#t=791) CircuitPython vs MicroPython and Interpreted vs Compiled
- [28:01](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2018-03-12-an-interview-with-scott-shawcroft#t=1681) CircuitPython Architecture and Uniform API
- [46:03](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2018-03-12-an-interview-with-scott-shawcroft#t=2763) Debugging with J-Link and GDB
- [1:24:37](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2018-03-12-an-interview-with-scott-shawcroft#t=5077) Community Building and Open Source Workflow

## Topics

- [Embedded firmware](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/embedded-firmware)
- [Microcontrollers & dev platforms](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/microcontrollers-and-platforms)
- [Open-source hardware](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/open-source-hardware)
- [Debugging & failure analysis](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/debugging-and-failure-analysis)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies

## Mentioned

- Adafruit (company)
- CircuitPython (product)
- MicroPython (product)
- SAMD21 (chip)
- SAMD51 (chip)
- nRF52 (chip)
- J-Link (tool)
- GDB (tool)
- Arduino (product)
- Atmel Studio (tool)
- Microsoft MakeCode (tool)
- Trinket M0 (product)
- ESP8266 (chip)
- ESP32 (chip)
- STM32 (chip)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [295: In the Key of Lime](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2019-07-18-295-in-the-key-of-lime) (Embedded.fm)
- [295: In the Key of Lime (Repeat)](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2022-04-07-295-in-the-key-of-lime-repeat) (Embedded.fm)
- [180: Chickens in Helmets](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2016-12-20-180-chickens-in-helmets) (Embedded.fm)
- [215: Heisenbugs](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2017-09-14-215-heisenbugs) (Embedded.fm)
- [416: EEs Are From PIC, SWEs Are From Arm](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2022-06-09-416-ees-are-from-pic-swes-are-from-arm) (Embedded.fm)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2018-03-12-an-interview-with-scott-shawcroft. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to The Amp Hour.