If you missed it last week MicroPython version 1.9 was released!  Check out the release notes for all the details but at a high level much of the new work in 1.9 was to reduce memory usage and improve the filesystem support.  Grab the latest MicroPython binaries and load them on your board to check it out.  You can find MicroPython 1.9 releases for the pyboard, ESP8266 and WiPy boards.

In addition to a new MicroPython release there’s a neat new MicroPython web emulator you can check out too.  It’s early in development but the tool emulates a CPU in your web browser using UnicornJS and then runs a special version of MicroPython on that virtual CPU.  Why would you want to do this?  One reason is to build an accurate simulator or emulator for MicroPython.  Instead of trying to simulate a complex chip like the pyboard’s Cortex-M3 you can simulate a simpler chip and target it with MicroPython.  This allows anyone to test drive the MicroPython REPL and code in their browser–no tools or anything needed to install it.  Check out the web emulator yourself, or even the code that powers it.