This is the v1.27.0 version of the MicroPython documentation. The latest development version of this page may be more current.

Core language

Generated Wed 10 Dec 2025 00:03:48 UTC

Classes

Special method __del__ not implemented for user-defined classes

Sample code:

import gc


class Foo:
    def __del__(self):
        print("__del__")


f = Foo()
del f

gc.collect()

CPython output:	MicroPython output:
__del__

__init_subclass__ isn’t automatically called.

Cause: MicroPython does not currently implement PEP 487.

Workaround: Manually call __init_subclass__ after class creation if needed. e.g.:

class A(Base):
    pass
A.__init_subclass__()

Sample code:

class Base:
    @classmethod
    def __init_subclass__(cls):
        print(f"Base.__init_subclass__({cls.__name__})")


class A(Base):
    pass

CPython output:	MicroPython output:
Base.__init_subclass__(A)

__init_subclass__ isn’t an implicit classmethod.

Cause: MicroPython does not currently implement PEP 487. __init_subclass__ is not currently in the list of special-cased class/static methods.

Workaround: Decorate declarations of __init_subclass__ with @classmethod.

Sample code:

def regularize_spelling(text, prefix="bound_"):
    # for regularizing across the CPython "method" vs MicroPython "bound_method" spelling for the type of a bound classmethod
    if text.startswith(prefix):
        return text[len(prefix) :]
    return text


class A:
    def __init_subclass__(cls):
        pass

    @classmethod
    def manual_decorated(cls):
        pass


a = type(A.__init_subclass__).__name__
b = type(A.manual_decorated).__name__

print(regularize_spelling(a))
print(regularize_spelling(b))
if a != b:
    print("FAIL")

CPython output:	MicroPython output:
method method	function method FAIL

MicroPython doesn’t support parameterized __init_subclass__ class customization.

Cause: MicroPython does not currently implement PEP 487. The MicroPython syntax tree does not include a kwargs node after the class inheritance list.

Workaround: Use class variables or another mechanism to specify base-class customizations.

Sample code:

class Base:
    @classmethod
    def __init_subclass__(cls, arg=None, **kwargs):
        cls.init_subclass_was_called = True
        print(f"Base.__init_subclass__({cls.__name__}, {arg=!r}, {kwargs=!r})")


class A(Base, arg="arg"):
    pass


# Regularize across MicroPython not automatically calling __init_subclass__ either.
if not getattr(A, "init_subclass_was_called", False):
    A.__init_subclass__()

CPython output:	MicroPython output:
Base.__init_subclass__(A, arg='arg', kwargs={})	Traceback (most recent call last): File "<stdin>", line 16, in <module> TypeError: function doesn't take keyword arguments

__init_subclass__ can’t be defined a cooperatively-recursive way.

Cause: MicroPython does not currently implement PEP 487. The base object type does not have an __init_subclass__ implementation.

Workaround: Omit the recursive __init_subclass__ call unless it’s known that the grandparent also defines it.

Sample code:

class Base:
    @classmethod
    def __init_subclass__(cls, **kwargs):
        cls.init_subclass_was_called = True
        super().__init_subclass__(**kwargs)


class A(Base):
    pass


# Regularize across MicroPython not automatically calling __init_subclass__ either.
if not getattr(A, "init_subclass_was_called", False):
    A.__init_subclass__()

CPython output:	MicroPython output:
	Traceback (most recent call last): File "<stdin>", line 22, in <module> File "<stdin>", line 13, in __init_subclass__ AttributeError: 'super' object has no attribute '__init_subclass__'

Method Resolution Order (MRO) is not compliant with CPython

Cause: Depth first non-exhaustive method resolution order

Workaround: Avoid complex class hierarchies with multiple inheritance and complex method overrides. Keep in mind that many languages don’t support multiple inheritance at all.

Sample code:

class Foo:
    def __str__(self):
        return "Foo"


class C(tuple, Foo):
    pass


t = C((1, 2, 3))
print(t)

CPython output:	MicroPython output:
Foo	(1, 2, 3)

Private Class Members name mangling is not implemented

Cause: The MicroPython compiler does not implement name mangling for private class members.

Workaround: Avoid using or having a collision with global names, by adding a unique prefix to the private class member name manually.

Sample code:

def __print_string(string):
    print(string)


class Foo:
    def __init__(self, string):
        self.string = string

    def do_print(self):
        __print_string(self.string)


example_string = "Example String to print."

class_item = Foo(example_string)
print(class_item.string)

class_item.do_print()

CPython output:	MicroPython output:
Example String to print. Traceback (most recent call last): File "<stdin>", line 26, in <module> File "<stdin>", line 18, in do_print NameError: name '_Foo__print_string' is not defined. Did you mean: '__print_string'?	Example String to print. Example String to print.

When inheriting native types, calling a method in __init__(self, ...) before super().__init__() raises an AttributeError (or segfaults if MICROPY_BUILTIN_METHOD_CHECK_SELF_ARG is not enabled).

Cause: MicroPython does not have separate __new__ and __init__ methods in native types.

Workaround: Call super().__init__() first.

Sample code:

class L1(list):
    def __init__(self, a):
        self.append(a)


try:
    L1(1)
    print("OK")
except AttributeError:
    print("AttributeError")


class L2(list):
    def __init__(self, a):
        super().__init__()
        self.append(a)


try:
    L2(1)
    print("OK")
except AttributeError:
    print("AttributeError")

CPython output:	MicroPython output:
OK OK	AttributeError OK

When inheriting from multiple classes super() only calls one class

Cause: See Method Resolution Order (MRO) is not compliant with CPython

Workaround: See Method Resolution Order (MRO) is not compliant with CPython

Sample code:

class A:
    def __init__(self):
        print("A.__init__")


class B(A):
    def __init__(self):
        print("B.__init__")
        super().__init__()


class C(A):
    def __init__(self):
        print("C.__init__")
        super().__init__()


class D(B, C):
    def __init__(self):
        print("D.__init__")
        super().__init__()


D()

CPython output:	MicroPython output:
D.__init__ B.__init__ C.__init__ A.__init__	D.__init__ B.__init__ A.__init__

Calling super() getter property in subclass will return a property object, not the value

Sample code:

class A:
    @property
    def p(self):
        return {"a": 10}


class AA(A):
    @property
    def p(self):
        return super().p


a = AA()
print(a.p)

CPython output:	MicroPython output:
{'a': 10}	<property>

Functions

Error messages for methods may display unexpected argument counts

Cause: MicroPython counts “self” as an argument.

Workaround: Interpret error messages with the information above in mind.

Sample code:

try:
    [].append()
except Exception as e:
    print(e)

CPython output:	MicroPython output:
list.append() takes exactly one argument (0 given)	function takes 2 positional arguments but 1 were given

Function objects do not have the __module__ attribute

Cause: MicroPython is optimized for reduced code size and RAM usage.

Workaround: Use sys.modules[function.__globals__['__name__']] for non-builtin modules.

Sample code:

def f():
    pass


print(f.__module__)

CPython output:	MicroPython output:
__main__	Traceback (most recent call last): File "<stdin>", line 13, in <module> AttributeError: 'function' object has no attribute '__module__'

User-defined attributes for functions are not supported

Cause: MicroPython is highly optimized for memory usage.

Workaround: Use external dictionary, e.g. FUNC_X[f] = 0.

Sample code:

def f():
    pass


f.x = 0
print(f.x)

CPython output:	MicroPython output:
0	Traceback (most recent call last): File "<stdin>", line 13, in <module> AttributeError: 'function' object has no attribute 'x'

Generator

Context manager __exit__() not called in a generator which does not run to completion

Sample code:

class foo(object):
    def __enter__(self):
        print("Enter")

    def __exit__(self, *args):
        print("Exit")


def bar(x):
    with foo():
        while True:
            x += 1
            yield x


def func():
    g = bar(0)
    for _ in range(3):
        print(next(g))


func()

CPython output:	MicroPython output:
Enter 1 2 3 Exit	Enter 1 2 3

Runtime

Local variables aren’t included in locals() result

Cause: MicroPython doesn’t maintain symbolic local environment, it is optimized to an array of slots. Thus, local variables can’t be accessed by a name.

Sample code:

def test():
    val = 2
    print(locals())


test()

CPython output:	MicroPython output:
{'val': 2}	{'test': <function test at 0x7a03a5406260>, '__name__': '__main__', '__file__': '<stdin>'}

Code running in eval() function doesn’t have access to local variables

Cause: MicroPython doesn’t maintain symbolic local environment, it is optimized to an array of slots. Thus, local variables can’t be accessed by a name. Effectively, eval(expr) in MicroPython is equivalent to eval(expr, globals(), globals()).

Sample code:

val = 1


def test():
    val = 2
    print(val)
    eval("print(val)")


test()

CPython output:	MicroPython output:
2 2	2 1

f-strings

f-strings don’t support concatenation with adjacent literals if the adjacent literals contain braces

Cause: MicroPython is optimised for code space.

Workaround: Use the + operator between literal strings when they are not both f-strings

Sample code:

x, y = 1, 2
print("aa" f"{x}")  # works
print(f"{x}" "ab")  # works
print("a{}a" f"{x}")  # fails
print(f"{x}" "a{}b")  # fails

CPython output:	MicroPython output:
aa1 1ab a{}a1 1a{}b	aa1 1ab Traceback (most recent call last): File "<stdin>", line 12, in <module> IndexError: tuple index out of range

f-strings cannot support expressions that require parsing to resolve unbalanced nested braces and brackets

Cause: MicroPython is optimised for code space.

Workaround: Always use balanced braces and brackets in expressions inside f-strings

Sample code:

print(f"{'hello { world'}")
print(f"{'hello ] world'}")

CPython output:	MicroPython output:
hello { world hello ] world	Traceback (most recent call last): File "<stdin>", line 9 SyntaxError: invalid syntax

f-strings don’t support !a conversions

Cause: MicropPython does not implement ascii()

Workaround: None

Sample code:

f"{'unicode text'!a}"

CPython output:	MicroPython output:
	Traceback (most recent call last): File "<stdin>", line 8 SyntaxError: invalid syntax

import

__path__ attribute of a package has a different type (single string instead of list of strings) in MicroPython

Cause: MicroPython doesn’t support namespace packages split across filesystem. Beyond that, MicroPython’s import system is highly optimized for minimal memory usage.

Workaround: Details of import handling is inherently implementation dependent. Don’t rely on such details in portable applications.

Sample code:

import modules

print(modules.__path__)

CPython output:	MicroPython output:
['/home/micropython/micropython-autodocs/tests/cpydiff/modules']	../tests/cpydiff/modules

MicroPython doesn’t support namespace packages split across filesystem.

Cause: MicroPython’s import system is highly optimized for simplicity, minimal memory usage, and minimal filesystem search overhead.

Workaround: Don’t install modules belonging to the same namespace package in different directories. For MicroPython, it’s recommended to have at most 3-component module search paths: for your current application, per-user (writable), system-wide (non-writable).

Sample code:

import sys

sys.path.append(sys.path[1] + "/modules")
sys.path.append(sys.path[1] + "/modules2")

import subpkg.foo
import subpkg.bar

print("Two modules of a split namespace package imported")

CPython output:	MicroPython output:
Two modules of a split namespace package imported	Traceback (most recent call last): File "<stdin>", line 14, in <module> ImportError: no module named 'subpkg.bar'