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FrameBuf Version Timeline

Run the FrameBuf Version Timeline MicroSim Fullscreen

About This MicroSim

This timeline lays out how framebuf grew from basic shapes into the drawing toolkit this book uses. It runs from the years before v1.17, through the August 2022 development-branch merge, to the v1.20.0 stable release in April 2023 and the v1.24.1 bug fix in 2024. Your goal is to interpret that sequence and summarize why the eight-month gap between the merge and the release matters when you pick a MicroPython version to install. The color coding separates official stable releases from development-branch activity that no ordinary user could install yet.

How to Use

  1. Hover over any milestone to read a one-sentence preview in a tooltip.
  2. Click a milestone to open its full description and a "Why it matters" note in the panel below the timeline.
  3. Check Show only stable releases to hide the development-branch merge and the nightly-build period, then compare that tidy story with the full one.
  4. Drag the timeline sideways to pan, or use the arrow, +, and − buttons.
  5. Click Fit All to return to the complete 2015-2026 view.

Iframe Embed Code

You can add this MicroSim to any web page by adding this to your HTML:

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<iframe src="sims/framebuf-version-timeline-explorer/main.html"
        height="612px"
        width="100%"
        scrolling="no"></iframe>

Lesson Plan

Grade Level

9-12 (High School)

Duration

10-15 minutes

Prerequisites

  • Knowing that framebuf is the MicroPython module that holds a drawing buffer in memory, from Chapter 4
  • Familiarity with ellipse() and poly() and what they can draw, from Chapter 7
  • Understanding that a pull request is a proposed code change a maintainer must review, from earlier in Chapter 8
  • Comfort reading a horizontal timeline from left to right

Activities

  1. Exploration (5 min): Hover across every milestone from left to right and write the six events down in order, noting the color of each one.
  2. Guided Practice (5 min): Click the August 2022 merge and then the April 2023 release. Read both "Why it matters" notes and calculate how many months separated them. Then explain what a programmer's only option was during those months.
  3. Assessment (5 min): Check Show only stable releases and describe in two sentences what the story looks like without the amber events. Then explain which version you would install today and why.

Assessment

  • The student states that ellipse() and poly() were merged in August 2022 but did not reach a stable release until April 2023, about eight months later.
  • The student explains that a nightly build was the only way to use ellipse() during that gap, and names at least one risk of using one.
  • The student identifies v1.20.0 as the earliest stable version that supports the drawing code in this book.
  • The student explains that v1.24.1 is a patch release, so it fixed a bug in ellipse() rather than adding a new feature.

References

  1. MicroPython framebuf Module Documentation - The official reference for every framebuf drawing method, including ellipse() and poly().
  2. MicroPython Downloads and Releases - Where official stable release firmware, including v1.20.0 and later, is published.
  3. Software versioning - Wikipedia - Background on major, minor, and patch numbers such as the three parts of v1.24.1.
  4. vis-timeline Documentation - The JavaScript library used to render this interactive timeline.