7. What's in Your Backpack? | Python Projects for Kids

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Python Projects for Kids

By : Jessica Ingrassellino

3.2 (5)

Python Projects for Kids

3.2 (5)

By: Jessica Ingrassellino

Overview of this book

Kids are always the most fast-paced and enthusiastic learners, and are naturally willing to build stuff that looks like magic at the end (when it works!). Programming can be one such magic. Being able to write a program that works helps them feel they've really achieved something. Kids today are very tech-savvy and cannot wait to enter the fast-paced digital world. Because Python is one of the most popular languages and has a syntax that is quite simple to understand, even kids are eager to use it as a stepping stone to learning programming languages. This book will cover projects that are simple and fun, and teach kids how to write Python code that works. The book will teach the basics of Python programming, installation, and so on and then will move on to projects. A total of three projects, with each and every step explained carefully, without any assumption of previous experience.

Preface

Preface

What this book covers

What you need for this book

Who this book is for

Conventions

Reader feedback

Customer support

Free Chapter

1. Welcome! Let's Get Started

1. Welcome! Let's Get Started

Python projects for you

The prerequisites of Python

Write and run your first program in the command line

Make yourself a work folder

A quick task for you

Summary

2. Variables, Functions, and Users

2. Variables, Functions, and Users

Variables

Functions

Users interacting with your program

Using the text editor and the command line

Build your own function – name()

Going the extra mile

A quick task for you

Summary

3. Calculate This!

3. Calculate This!

The calculator

Basic functions

Operations on two numbers

New functions – subtraction, multiplication, and division

Finding a remainder – modulo

Running your program

A quick task for you

Summary

4. Making Decisions – Python Control Flows

4. Making Decisions – Python Control Flows

Is it equal, not equal, or something else?

Conditional statements – if, elif, else

Loops

A quick task for you

Summary

5. Loops and Logic

5. Loops and Logic

Higher or Lower

A quick task for you

Summary

6. Working with Data – Lists and Dictionaries

6. Working with Data – Lists and Dictionaries

Lists

Dictionaries

List or dictionary

A quick task for you

Summary

7. What's in Your Backpack?

7. What's in Your Backpack?

Setting up our coding environment

Planning to program your game

Skills needed to make a program

Score, play again, or quit?

Getting and storing player information

Adding items to the virtual backpack

Limiting items in a virtual backpack

Testing your code so far

A game loop

Bringing back the while loop

Comparing guesses with backpack items

Keeping score

Ending the game

Testing your game

A quick task for you

Summary

8. pygame

8. pygame

What is pygame?

Installing pygame

pygame

A quick task for you

Summary

9. Tiny Tennis

9. Tiny Tennis

Introduction to game programming principles

The game plan

Creating an outline of game parts

Section 1 – imports, globals, and drawings

Initializing the score

Testing section 1

Section 2 – moving the paddles

The increase and decrease value (-= and +=)

Testing section 2

Section 3 – moving the ball

Testing – section 3

Section 4 – draw screen and track the score

Ending the program

Play Tiny Tennis!

Summary

10. Keep Coding!

10. Keep Coding!

What we learned and your next steps

Classes and objects – very important next steps!

More fun with games

Adding music to games

Adding graphics to games

Remake or design games

Other games

Other uses of Python

Coding challenges

Summary

A. Quick Task Answers

A. Quick Task Answers

Chapter 1, Welcome! Let's Get Started

Chapter 2, Variables, Functions, and Users

Chapter 3, Calculate This!

Chapter 4, Making Decisions – Python Control Flows

Chapter 5, Loops and Logic

Chapter 6, Working with Data – Lists and Dictionaries

Chapter 7, What's in Your Backpack?

Chapter 8, pygame

Index

Index

Keeping score

To keep score in the game, the following line of code is used:

players[i]["score"] += 1

You will notice a new symbol, +=. The += symbol is a shortcut that lets us take a value (score), add an amount to this value (we are adding 1 point), and then make the value of score equal to the new value.

This line of code says that if the first player makes a match to an item in the second player backpack, then the new score for the first player is score += 1. You will remember that in the beginning of the game, we set each player to have a score of zero in the dictionary. Now, we are updating that score to be score += 1. Each time the first player scores, score will be updated by 1, and the computer will remember the new score.

CONTINUE READING

83

Tech Concepts

36

Programming languages

73

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