Game Programming

Study Guide for Programming in Python on the Example of Simple Games

Перевод осуществлён c согласия автора оригинального материала.

The translation is made with the consent of the author.

"Game Programming in Python, Coding from Scratch" is for children, teenagers, their parents and teachers! It is designed for a wide range of readers studying programming.

We'll learn programming in Python and write games together!

The app explains the fundamentals of the functional (procedural) programming in Python, provides information about working with the Tkinter library which helps to create solid programs with convenient and intuitive interface, and discloses principles of program building on the rule «divide and rule», developing creative thinking and effective result achievement both in programming and in life. How to create a button? How to program the pressing on that button? How to display a message window? Laconic modern design, beauty and grace are about Tkinter. The library is widely used in modern programming.

Why this particular tutorial? I have been teaching computer science for 20 years and still face one annoying thing. Many materials are supposed to "teach programming", but they just give background information about syntax, certain elements and so on. Agree that even if you learn by heart English-Russian dictionary, you won't speak Russian, because it's necessary to bear in mind a thousand of details: times, conjugations, cases, parts of speech and their using etc.

I am not going to talk only about the Python language. I will explain to a reader each subsection by logical reasoning, answering the questions "By using what?", "For what?" and "Why?". All theory will be turned into practice at once.

Structure of the material:

- basic information about programming in Python and Python syntax;

- game architecture: what principles underlie game development, what you should worry about, how to create data processing system;

- tips and tricks of a programmer: you can't cheat your own destiny, but you can (and should) facilitate your work;

- games!

There are four games in this part:

1. «Guess the Number». The purposes of the game are entertainment and numeric ranges analysis. It's for children who learn to count. If you are a parent, you can write a game specially for your child, having integrated all your wishes into the program.

2. «Learn to Count». The purpose of the game is development of counting skills. It's actually for everyone who wants to increase the speed of counting correctly in mind.

3. «Casino 678». The purpose of the game is the counter-propaganda of gambling. When you write this algorithm by yourself and lose virtual money, you will understand that there is no chance to win, interest in gambling will disappear. It's recommended for people hoping to become suddenly richer in a million of dollars and start carefree living.

4. «Hippodrome». The purposes of the game are learning the Tkinter library, creating dialog boxes (Windows), working with images, image animation and coordinate system. We'll also work with parameters of the processes, changing game situation according to event probability.

Presented here algorithms are written to:

- explain how the processor works;

- teach to create pragmatic algorithms in Python programming language;

- develop the skill of implementation data processing with the Python tools;

- introduce to modern high-level language tools;

- ... to popularize this creative pastime.

You will find:

- basic algorithms of data processing;

- practical advice and notes based on my multi-year experience;

- design stages of algorithms for games;

- description of how the Tkinter library works on demonstrative examples;

- tests that check Python code understanding, skills of programming in Python.

If you like the app, please, rate it and write a commentary. It greatly motivates to continue working :)