Motivation The Python Foundation has really been amping up the real-time capabilities of Python with the new asyncio library. Asyncio enables Pythonistas to write code that is asynchronous, allowing for a more event-driven approach to writing software. What platform would benefit more from this new tech than microcomputers like the Raspberry Pi, which are finding new life as lightweight, yet powerful IoT Internet of Things devices? In my never-ending quest to set up a feedback system in my office where light levels can be communicated to an automated shade setup, I figured this would be the very first step to get there. Although I bet the Pi Zero W would work fabulously as well. Install Raspbian onto SD-Card for Pi Raspbian is the go-to OS for Raspberry Pi. It has the most support on this hardware, and also runs the smoothest. It is a Linux Distro that is Debian-based, so a lot of the software packages you can install in Debian and Ubuntu are the same as the ones you can install on Raspbian. Raspbian comes with Python 2. Pyenv should now be installing Python 3. This will take anywhere between 10 minutes to an hour, depending on your internet connection and whether you went with a Pi 3 or a Pi Zero W. The global Python version your Pi will use is now 3. Optionally, you can install something like virtualenvwrapper, but on lightweight platforms like the Pi, I tend to just install things directly, since it's unlikely I'll be using it for anything else. Let me refer you to , which details all the ways in which asyncio is made even better with the availability of things like asynchronous context managers because calling anything. Also, with , unpacking from lists and dicts is even better! Who wouldn't want that! Dean is a developer at Yeti, and more importantly the owner of Yeti's office dog, Ben benjipoops. His interests include baking bread, long distance running, and two other activities that cancel each other out. When he's not developing apps, he's drawing diagrams on his desk and drinking tea.
