Python for Kids

Description

Python for Kids is a lighthearted introduction to the Python language and programming in general, complete with illustrations and kid-friendly examples. Jason Briggs, author of the popular online tutorial "Snake Wrangling for Kids," begins with the basics of how to install Python and write simple commands. In bite-sized chapters, he instructs readers on the essentials of Python, including how to use Python's extensive standard library, the difference between strings and lists, and using for-loops and while-loops. By the end of the book, readers have built a game and created drawings with Python's graphics library, Turtle. Each chapter closes with fun and relevant exercises that challenge the reader to put their newly acquired knowledge to the test. About the Author, Illustrator, and Technical Reviewers Acknowledgments Introduction Why Python? How to Learn to Code Who Should Read This Book What’s in This Book The Companion Website Have Fun! Part I: Learning to Program 1: Not All Snakes Slither A Few Words About Language Installing Python Installing Python on Windows 7 Installing Python on Mac OS X Installing Python on Ubuntu Once You’ve Installed Python Saving Your Python Programs What You Learned 2: Calculations and Variables Calculating with Python Python Operators The Order of Operations Variables Are Like Labels Using Variables What You Learned 3: Strings, Lists, Tuples, and Maps Strings Creating Strings Handling Problems with Strings Embedding Values in Strings Multiplying Strings Lists Are More Powerful Than Strings Adding Items to a List Removing Items from a List List Arithmetic Tuples Python Maps Won’t Help You Find Your Way What You Learned Programming Puzzles #1: Favorites #2: Counting Combatants #3: Greetings! 4: Drawing with Turtles Using Python’s turtle Module Creating a Canvas Moving the Turtle What You Learned Programming Puzzles #1: A Rectangle #2: A Triangle #3: A Box Without Corners 5: Asking Questions with if and else i f Statements A Block Is a Group of Programming Statements Conditions Help Us Compare Things if-then-else Statements if and elif Statements Combining Conditions Variables with No Value—None The Difference Between Strings and Numbers What You Learned Programming Puzzles #1: Are You Rich? #2: Twinkies! #3: Just the Right Number #4: I Can Fight Those Ninjas 6: Going Loopy Using for Loops While We’re Talking About Looping . . . What You Learned Programming Puzzles #1: The Hello Loop #2: Even Numbers #3: My Five Favorite Ingredients #4: Your Weight on the Moon 7: Recycling Your Code with Functions and Modules Using Functions Parts of a Function Variables and Scope Using Modules What You Learned Programming Puzzles #1: Basic Moon Weight Function #2: Moon Weight Function and Years #3: Moon Weight Program 8: How to Use Classes and Objects Breaking Things into Classes Children and Parents Adding Objects to Classes Defining Functions of Classes Adding Class Characteristics as Functions Why Use Classes and Objects? Objects and Classes in Pictures Other Useful Features of Objects and Classes Inherited Functions Functions Calling Other Functions Initializing an Object What You Learned Programming Puzzles #1: The Giraffe Shuffle #2: Turtle Pitchfork 9: Python’s Built-in Functions Using Built-in Functions The abs Function The bool Function The dir Function The eval Function The exec Function The float Function The int Function The len Function The max and min Functions The range Function The sum Function Working with Files Creating a Test File Opening a File in Python Writing to Files What You Learned Programming Puzzles #1: Mystery Code #2: A Hidden Message #3: Copying a File 10: Useful Python Modules Making Copies with the copy Module Keeping Track of Keywords with the keyword Module Getting Random Numbers with the random Module Using randint to Pick a ­Random Number Using choice to Pick a Random Item from a List Using shuffle to Shuffle a List Controlling the Shell with the sys Module Exiting the Shell with the exit function Reading with the stdin Object Writing with the stdout Object Which Version of Python Am I Using? Doing Time with the time Module Converting a Date with asctime Getting the Date and Time with localtime Taking Some Time Off with sleep Using the pickle Module to Save Information What You Learned Programming Puzzles #1: Copied Cars #2: Pickled Favorites 11: More Turtle Graphics Starting with the Basic Square Drawing Stars Drawing a Car Coloring Things In A Function to Draw a Filled Circle Creating Pure Black and White A Square-Drawing Function Drawing Filled Squares Drawing Filled Stars What You Learned Programming Puzzles #1: Drawing an Octagon #2: Drawing a Filled Octagon #3: Another Star-D rawing Function 12: Using tkinter for Better Graphics Creating a Clickable Button Using Named Parameters Creating a Canvas for Drawing Drawing Lines Drawing Boxes Drawing a Lot of Rectangles Setting the Color Drawing Arcs Drawing Polygons Displaying Text Displaying Images Creating Basic Animation Making an Object React to Something More Ways to Use the Identifier What You Learned Programming Puzzles #1: Fill the Screen with Triangles #2: The Moving Triangle #3: The Moving Photo Part II Bounce! Part II: Bounce! 13: Beginning Your First Game: Bounce! Whack the Bouncing Ball Creating the Game Canvas Creating the Ball Class Adding Some Action Making the Ball Move Making the Ball Bounce Changing the Ball’s Starting Direction What You Learned 14: Finishing Your First Game: Bounce! Adding the Paddle Making the Paddle Move Finding Out When the Ball Hits the Paddle Adding an Element of Chance What You Learned Programming Puzzles #1: Delay the Game Start #2: A Proper “Game Over” #3: Accelerate the Ball #4: Record the Player’s Score Part III: Mr. Stick Man Races for the Exit 15: Creating Graphics for the Mr. Stick Man Game Mr. Stick Man Game Plan Getting GIMP Creating the Game Elements Preparing a Transparent Image Drawing Mr. Stick Man Drawing the Platforms Drawing the Door Drawing the Background Transparency What You Learned 16: Developing the Mr. Stick Man Game Creating the Game Class Setting the Window Title and ­Creating the Canvas Finishing the _init_ Function Creating the mainloop Function Creating the Coords Class Checking for Collisions Sprites Colliding Horizontally Sprites Colliding Vertically Putting It All Together: Our Final Collision-Detection Code Creating the Sprite Class Adding the Platforms Adding a Platform Object Adding a Bunch of ­Platforms What You Learned Programming Puzzles #1: Checkerboard #2: Two-Image Checkerboard #3: Bookshelf and Lamp 17: Creating Mr. Stick Man Initializing the Stick Figure Loading the Stick ­Figure Images Setting Up Variables Binding to Keys Turning the Stick Figure Left and Right Making the Stick Figure Jump What We Have So Far What You Learned 18: Completing the Mr. Stick Man Game Animating the Stick Figure Creating the Animate Function Getting the Stick Figure’s Position Making the Stick Figure Move Testing Our Stick Figure Sprite The Door! Creating the DoorSprite Class Detecting the Door Adding the Door Object The Final Game What You Learned Programming Puzzles #1: “You Win!” #2: Animating the Door #3: Moving Platforms Afterword: Where to Go from Here Games and Graphics Programming PyGame Programming Languages Java C/C++ C# PHP Objective-C Perl Ruby JavaScript Final Words Appendix: Python Keywords Glossary Index