Merge pull request #2387 from rhooper/add-building-doc

Add BUILDING.md document for #2370

BUILDING.md

@@ -0,0 +1,82 @@
+
+# Building CircuitPython
+
+Welcome to CircuitPython!  
+
+This document is a quick-start guide only.
+
+Detailed guides on how to build CircuitPython can be found in the Adafruit Learn system at
+https://learn.adafruit.com/building-circuitpython/
+
+## Setup
+
+Please ensure you setup your build environment appropriately, as per the guide.  You will need:
+
+* Linux: https://learn.adafruit.com/building-circuitpython/linux
+* MacOS: https://learn.adafruit.com/building-circuitpython/macos
+* Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL): https://learn.adafruit.com/building-circuitpython/windows-subsystem-for-linux
+
+### Submodules
+
+This project has a bunch of git submodules.  You will need to update them regularly.
+
+    git submodule sync
+    git submodule update --init
+
+### mpy-cross
+
+As part of the build process, mpy-cross is needed to compile .py files into .mpy files.
+To compile (or recompile) mpy-cross:
+
+    make -C mpy-cross 
+
+# Building
+
+There a number of ports of CircuitPython!  To build for your board, change to the appropriate ports directory and build.
+
+Examples:
+
+    cd ports/atmel-samd
+    make BOARD=circuitplayground_express
+
+    cd ports/nrf
+    make BOARD=circuitplayground_bluefruit
+
+If you aren't sure what boards exist, have a peek in the boards subdirectory of your port.
+If you have a fast computer with many cores, consider adding `-j` to your build flags, such as `-j17` on
+a 6-core 12-thread machine.
+
+# Testing
+
+If you are working on changes to the core language, you might find it useful to run the test suite.
+The test suite in the top level `tests` directory.  It needs the unix port to run.
+
+    cd ports/unix
+    make axtls
+    make micropython
+
+Then you can run the test suite:
+
+    cd ../../tests
+    ./run-tests
+
+A successful run will say something like
+
+    676 tests performed (19129 individual testcases)
+    676 tests passed
+    30 tests skipped: buffered_writer builtin_help builtin_range_binop class_delattr_setattr cmd_parsetree extra_coverage framebuf1 framebuf16 framebuf2 framebuf4 framebuf8 framebuf_subclass mpy_invalid namedtuple_asdict non_compliant resource_stream schedule sys_getsizeof urandom_extra ure_groups ure_span ure_sub ure_sub_unmatched vfs_basic vfs_fat_fileio1 vfs_fat_fileio2 vfs_fat_more vfs_fat_oldproto vfs_fat_ramdisk vfs_userfs
+
+# Debugging
+
+The easiest way to debug CircuitPython on hardware is with a JLink device, JLinkGDBServer, and an appropriate GDB.   
+Instructions can be found at https://learn.adafruit.com/debugging-the-samd21-with-gdb
+
+If using JLink, you'll need both the `JLinkGDBServer` and `arm-none-eabi-gdb` running.
+
+Example:
+
+    JLinkGDBServer -if SWD -device ATSAMD51J19
+    arm-none-eabi-gdb build-metro_m4_express/firmware.elf -iex "target extended-remote :2331"
+
+If your port/build includes `arm-none-eabi-gdb-py`, consider using it instead, as it can be used for better register
+debugging with https://github.com/bnahill/PyCortexMDebug

docs/index.rst

@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ Full Table of Contents
 
    ../README
    ../CONTRIBUTING
+   ../BUILDING
    ../CODE_OF_CONDUCT
    ../license.rst