Trouble coding test program to turn LED on and off

Question

I'm trying to code a button to turn and LED on and off.

from machine import Pin

led = Pin(16, Pin.OUT)
button = Pin(17, Pin.IN)


while True:
    if button.value()==1:
        led.high()
        print("hello")
    if button.value()==0:
        led.low()

This is all running on a Pi Pico W. I notice the LED turns on anytime a wire is connected to pin 17, even if the wire isn't plugged into anything else. When I push the button it lights up brighter, and prints Hello.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

Answer 1

It may be a case of floating pin. Try inserting a (for example) 10k resistor between the pin and GND. How do pull-down resistors work?