Cod

i
Clu ng
Python b
Building
BIG Apps level 3
Chris Roffey
 Cod
i
Clu ng
Python b
Building
BIG Apps level 3
Chris Roffey
cambridge university press
Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town,
Singapore, São Paulo, Delhi, Mexico City

Cambridge University Press

The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 8RU, UK

www.cambridge.org
Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9781107666870

© Cambridge University Press 2013

This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception

and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements,
no reproduction of any part may take place without the written
permission of Cambridge University Press.

First published 2013

Printed in Poland by Opolgraf

A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library

ISBN 978-1-107-66687-0 Paperback

Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or

accuracy of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in
this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is,
or will remain, accurate or appropriate.
Contents
Introduction 4

Chapter 1: Can you guess my password? 7

Chapter 2: Objects, classes and factories 17

The MyPong Project 32

Chapter 3: Creating the Table 34

Chapter 4: Making the Ball 51

Chapter 5: Building the Bats 69

Chapter 6: The rules and scoring 91

Bonus Chapter: Two more games 106

Taking things further 120

Appendix: Some key bits of information 123

Glossary and index 126

Quick Quiz answers 131

Acknowledgements 132
Contents 3
Introduction
Who is this book for?
This book is the Level 3 core book in the Coding Club series. Before reading this, you should
have either read Coding Club, Python: Next Steps or have become familiar with Python 3 and
learned about variables, while loops, lists and tuples. This book is aimed at coders with a
little bit of previous programming experience.

Why should you choose this book?

Building larger programs and applications can seem daunting. As well as sorting out the
normal details and algorithms, the big picture has to be maintained. This book helps you to
see your way through the big picture – it shows you how to break your applications up into
manageable chunks that are logical, and even better, reusable. To do this you are given an
introduction to a style of programming called object oriented programming (OOP). This is
a great way to program but might seem a little more complicated at first than the way you
have learned to code in the level 1 and 2 books.

Introduction 4
At this stage in your coding it is important that you are introduced to classes and objects.
This is because you will certainly want to use other people’s classes, and to do this effectively
a little understanding goes a long way. What is special about this book is how the
explanations are rooted in the real world and use analogies that you will understand. The
code is also built so that it mirrors real objects whenever possible. This is so that when you
go on to write your own applications you will be able to imagine how to convert real objects
into coded objects.

What you will need

Any type of computer can run Python 3. If yours does not already have it installed, there is a
section on the companion website (www.codingclub.co.uk) that guides you through installing
IDLE and Python 3. This only takes about 5 minutes, and is all you require to get started.

So that you do not have to do too much typing and do not get lost in the bigger projects,
there are start files and, if you need them, finished files for all the projects in the book in one
easily downloadable zip file. The website also has answers to the puzzles and challenges to
help you if you get stuck.

How to use this book

The ideal way to use this book is to read everything carefully and build all the main projects
in order. At the end of each chapter there are further ideas, and challenges that you can
think of as ‘mini quests’. Some readers will want to work through them all so that they
understand everything all the time. Some of you will probably prefer to rush through and get
to the end. Which approach is best? The one you are most comfortable with. However, if you
are being guided by a teacher, you should trust their judgement so that they can help you in
the best possible way.
Introduction 5
There are four ways in which this book tries to help you to learn:

1 Typing out the code – this is important as it encourages you to work through the code a
line at a time (like computers do) and will help you to remember the details in the future.
2 Finding and fixing errors – error messages in Python give you some clues as to what
has gone wrong. Solving these problems yourself will help you to become a better
programmer. To avoid feeling bored and frustrated though, the code can be downloaded
from the companion website www.codingclub.co.uk
3 Experimenting – feel free to experiment with the code you write. See what else you can
make it do. If you try all of the challenges, puzzles and ideas, and generally play with the
code, this will help you learn how to write code like a pro.
4 Finally, this book will not only provide the code to build some pretty cool, short
projects – it will also teach you how the programs were designed. You can then use the
same methods to design your own applications.

A word of warning
You may be tempted to simply get the code off the website instead of typing it yourself. If you
do, you will probably find that you cannot remember how to write code so easily later. In
this book you will only be asked to type small chunks of code at a time – remember that this
will help you understand every detail of each of your programs.

Introduction 6
Chapter 1
Can you guess my password?
This book assumes that you have read Coding Club: Python Basics. If you have not, you
should at least understand what variables and functions are and know how to use IDLE in
both interactive mode and script mode. In this first chapter you will recall some of this by
making a very simple application called ‘Guess My Password’. You will then have revised:

• variables

• if, elif and else

• functions

• while loops

• modules

• using IDLE’s script mode.

Chapter 1: Can you guess my password? 7

Guess My Password
The game is going to start by asking the player to guess my password. The app then waits for
the player’s input, which is stored in a variable. Finally, the player’s input will be compared
with the computer’s own secret password. If the guess is correct the player is congratulated, if
not, a random message is supplied and then the player is asked to try again.

As in the previous Coding Club books, you will use IDLE, an example of an IDE. You can start by
opening IDLE and then choosing New Window from the File menu. This gets you into IDLE’s script
mode. It is a good idea to now re-arrange the windows so that the interactive mode console and
new window are next to each other and both can be seen at the same time (Figure 1.1).

Python 3.1.3 (r313:86834, Nov 28 2010, 10:01:07) # GuessMyPassword.py is a quick revision application.
[GCC 4.4.5] on linux2
Type "copyright", "credits" or "license()" for more information. import random
==== No Subprocess ====
>>> # Initialise variables:
Hello. response1 = "I am afraid not. Please try again."
response2 = "That is a good password but not my password. Keep guessing."
See if you can guess my password? Abracadabra response3 = "That is not my password. It really is easy to guess my password."
I am afraid not. Please try again. response4 = "Well done! You must work for MI6. Give my regards to James Bond."
MY_PASSWORD = "my password"
What is your next guess?
# Function to find out if the user has guessed correctly:
def is_correct(guess, password):
if guess == password:
guess_correct = True
else:

interactive mode script mode

Figure 1.1 A simple IDLE arrangement.
Chapter 1: Can you guess my password? 8
Copy the code from Code Box 1.1 and save the file to your Python Code folder as
GuessMyPassword.py. You may not have a Python Code folder so you might need to create
one first. Choose a sensible place to save this, such as your Documents folder.

Code Box 1.1

# GuessMyPassword.py is a quick revision application.

import random

# Initialise variables:
response1 = "I am afraid not. Please try again."
response2 = "
That is a good password but not my password. Keep guessing."
response3 = "
That is not my password. It really is easy to guess my password."
response4 = "
Well done! You must work for MI6. Give my regards to James Bond."
MY_PASSWORD = "my password"

Analysis of Code Box 1.1

Comments

Comments appear in red in IDLE; these are aimed at humans only and begin with the
hash symbol #.

Chapter 1: Can you guess my password? 9

Modules

A module is a collection of useful functions and data in one place. Sometimes we will want
to write our own. Modules have to be imported before they can be used. In this app the
random module is imported so that it can be used later in the program. Variable value
(a string)
n
Variables

i
ase t r y a ga
These are labels we make to allow us to access data. We create a variable by giving it a
name and then assign data to it using the equals operator. Good programmers begin
their variable names with lowercase letters and make them descriptive. The name for
a constant is all in capitals.

Ple
You have just created five string type variables and labeled them response1,
response2, response3, response4 and MY_PASSWORD. response1
MY_PASSWORD is a constant – it does not change.

Functions
Variable name
Figure 1.2 A variable called response1
storing a string.
A function is a piece of code that can be used again and again. You can already
use any of the many functions that are built into Python. You can also make your own.
Functions are created with the def keyword. Here is the code for a function that finds out if
the guess is the correct password.

Chapter 1: Can you guess my password? 10

Code Box 1.2 Have you saved yet?
# Function to find out if the user has guessed correctly: You should try and
remember to do so after
def is_correct(guess, password):
entering each Code Box.
if guess == password:
guess_correct = True
else:
guess_correct = False
return guess_correct

Add the code from Code Box 1.2 to your GuessMyPassword.py file. The is_correct()
function has to be passed an argument called guess and another argument called
password. The function then compares the two strings. If they are the same, the function
sets the guess_correct variable to True, if not it sets it to False. Finally the function
will return True or False – depending on the state the guess_correct variable is in.
A variable that only stores the values True or False is called a boolean variable.

User input
To get user input from the keyboard we use Python’s input() function which waits for the
user to type some text and press the enter key. If we want to be able to access the input later
we need to assign it to a variable like this:

user_input = input()

Chapter 1: Can you guess my password? 11

The function can also take an argument, usually a string, which can act as an output
message. This appears on the screen and then the program waits for the user’s input:

user_input = input("Please type some input: ")

Now we are able to access the input, for example, in a print function:

print(user_input)
This program contains
one of those jokes that
We use the input() function three times in this program, in two different ways. are far more fun to tell
Now it is time to finish the program by adding the code from Code Box 1.3 to your than to hear.

GuessMyPassword.py file. As you type, think carefully about what each line does.

Code Box 1.3

# Start the game:
print("Hello.\n")
users_guess = input("See if you can guess my password? ")

# Use our function:

true_or_false = is_correct(users_guess,MY_PASSWORD)

# Run the game until the user is correct:

while true_or_false == False:
computer_response = random.randint(1, 3)

Chapter 1: Can you guess my password? 12

 if computer_response == 1:
print(response1)
elif computer_response == 2:
print(response2)
else:
print(response3)

# Collect the user's next guess:

users_guess = input("\nWhat is your next guess? ")

# Use our function again:

true_or_false = is_correct(users_guess, MY_PASSWORD)

# End the game:

print(response4)
input("\n\n\nPress RETURN to exit.")

Analysis of Code Box 1.3

Hopefully you can remember how a while loop works, as described in Coding Club: Python Basics.
If not, do not worry as it is fairly obvious what is going on. The code that is indented after

while true_or_false == False:

forms a block of code. This code keeps running until the true_or_false variable is True.

Chapter 1: Can you guess my password? 13

random.randint(1, 3) generates a random number between one and three. The
randint() function is from the random library so it is necessary to use the dot operator to
tell our application where to find it.

Many computer languages use the structure:

if: [do something]

elseif: [do something else]
else: [do something different again]

elif is Python’s version of elseif. You can have as many elif clauses as you wish but
they must be preceded by an if clause and must end with an else clause.

Delving Deeper
Writing less code
Coders love finding ways of performing the same task with less code. Hopefully you have found the function
in Code Box 1.2 easy to understand and follow. It is logical. There is, however, a lot of unnecessary code in it
because we can simply use comparative operators to compare two variables and return True if they are the
same and False if not. Hence the whole function in Code Box 1.2 can be replaced with this:
def is_correct(guess, password):
return guess == password
Try it out yourself and see that it still works.

Chapter 1: Can you guess my password? 14

Chapter summary
In this chapter you have revised:

• variables
• if, elif and else clauses
• functions
• while loops
• modules and used the Python’s random module
• how to use IDLE’s script mode to write and keep your own programs.

As this is a revision chapter, you can now just play with this application if you want. If you
feel you need some practice, try the ideas below.

Idea 1
Change all the variables so they are a little more helpful and give a clue. (Hint: “Read the
question carefully” would be a good clue.)

Chapter 1: Can you guess my password? 15

 Idea 2
Make the app a little more useful by enabling the player to respond “yes” to, “Do you give
up?” This will need a separate message (response5 perhaps?) that is triggered after the
player has guessed three times. (Hint: set a counter variable in the while loop.) Finally, if
the player gives up, tell them the password.

An answer and all the source code for this book can be downloaded from the companion I know the password.
website www.codingclub.co.uk. One answer (there are many different ways to solve these
problems) is in the Chapter 1 folder in the Answers file and is called Ch1-Idea2.py.

Chapter 1: Can you guess my password? 16

Chapter 2
Objects, classes and factories
By the end of this chapter you will have the essential knowledge to start our big project –
writing the MyPong application. This chapter is important for another reason – you will
be introduced to a particular way of programming called object-oriented programming
(OOP). This is one way of coping with the complexity of writing big programs. You are not
going to learn everything there is to know about OOP but you will gain a foundation and
understand how classes and methods can be built.

There is far more in this chapter about how to design programs than about actually writing
them. After you have finished working your way through this book, you will hopefully be
starting to think about how to design your own programs rather than just writing the ones
that are suggested. The bonus chapter illustrates how well-designed code can quickly be
adapted to make new applications.

In this chapter you are going to:

• learn how to design classes

• learn how to make objects from classes

• start to build your own module

• learn how to design larger programs one bit at a time.

Chapter 2: Objects, classes and factories 17
Big programs
If we sat down and wanted to build ourselves a car (a real one, as in Figure 2.1) we might
not even know where to start. How about starting with the engine? An engine manufacturer
does not need to know anything about wheels or windscreen wipers or how to make seats –
the engine manufacturer makes engines. A car manufacturer does not need to know how an
engine is made; they just need to know how to attach a car to it. A car builder can also get a
wheel from one company and a tyre from another company – as long as they fit.

Figure 2.1 McLaren 12C – a very pretty car!

A complex computer program, such as an email application or a video game, can also be
very difficult to build because it is also made of many parts. However, just like the car, large
applications do not have to be built all at once. The latest video games are often made up
of millions of lines of code. If they were built as one program, can you imagine how hard it
would be to find a typing mistake? And believe me, everyone makes typing mistakes. The
way this problem is avoided is by building little bits at a time.

There are several ways to do this. One of these is to use OOP, which builds programs out
of coded objects! The great thing about this is that if you build the objects in the correct
Chapter 2: Objects, classes and factories 18
way, you can make libraries of these objects. These objects can be re-used again in other
applications. You can of course do a lot of this with functions but learning about objects and
classes will help you better understand other people’s code. The popular PyGame library and
tkinter both use classes.

Classes
Our first task is to look at a problem and work out how it can be separated into smaller tasks
and objects. You have just learned that we build libraries of objects. This is not entirely true.
We build libraries of classes. A class is better than an object, because it can act as a factory
for making objects.

Instead of explaining with a complex situation, let’s take something very simple – a cat.

There are many ways to build a Cat class. Here is one:

Code Box 2.1

class Cat:
def speak(self):
print("Meow!")

def drink(self):
print("The cat drinks its milk.")
print("The cat takes a nap.")

Chapter 2: Objects, classes and factories 19

Open a new window in IDLE and type in the code from Code Box 2.1. Save this as cat.py in
your Python folder.

Analysis of Code Box 2.1

The first thing to note is that we use the class keyword and that the class name, Cat, starts
with a capital. The indented code after the colon belongs to the class. Inside the class we
have provided two methods. Methods are very similar to functions except that they belong to
a class.

Remember, this is like a factory. Now, you will learn how to send it orders to build some
objects – in this case, some cats!

Delving Deeper
What is the difference between a method and a function?
A method is just a special function that we make in a class.
Computer scientists might get upset with us calling classes ‘factories’ as this word has another meaning in
advanced OOP. They would prefer us to describe classes as templates or blueprints. You will find it a lot easier to
think of classes as factories though.
If you think of classes as factories, you can understand that by requiring a method to have self as an
argument, you tell the computer that the method will be available to each of the objects made by the factory.

Chapter 2: Objects, classes and factories 20

Modules
By storing class files such as cat.py in one folder they become a module! Any other Python
files in the same folder can use them with a simple import statement:

import cat

There are other special modules in the Python library that can be used. You have already
done this once.
Wow, we have made our
very own module.
OK, so it only has one class
Quick Quiz 2.1 in it – but it’s a start.
Can you remember which module we used before?

main.py
So far we cannot do anything with the Cat class. Have you tried to run it? Not a lot happens
does it?

Open a new window in IDLE and type in the code from Code Box 2.2. Then save this new
file as main.py. Notice cat.py is imported at the beginning of the code which gives our
program access to the Cat class. The file that you have just created is where you will start to
run the program, which is why it is called main.py.

Chapter 2: Objects, classes and factories 21

Code Box 2.2
import cat

# create an instance of a cat, named Romeo

romeo = cat.Cat()

# play with Romeo

romeo.speak()
romeo.drink()

Analysis of Code Box 2.2

romeo = cat.Cat()

This is where we order an object from our cat factory. Computer scientists say: “We have made
an instance of the Cat class.” They might even say that we have instantiated a cat object.
Romeo is the object and it is created by the Cat class (hence the capital letter). The Cat class is in
cat.py so we tell main.py where to look with the dot operator. The dot is used to link the class
with its location. In non-coding language, this line of code translates as:

‘Create an object called Romeo using the cat factory found in the cat.py file.’

Thus we have a cat! And he is called Romeo! All done with one line of code.

Chapter 2: Objects, classes and factories 22

Romeo has all the methods that were built by its factory, the Cat class, available to him.
To access them we call them using the dot operator again:

romeo.speak() # calls romeo’s speak method

romeo.drink() # calls romeo’s drink method

If you have not played with Romeo yet, you can do so now! To play with Romeo you simply
save and run main.py. It must be in the same folder as cat.py.

Improving the Cat class

Warning: There are a lot of selfs in this section!

When calling a function we send it arguments in the brackets like this:

times_tables(12, 12)

This function is from Python Basics and calling it would print out the 12 times table up to
12 × 12 = 144. Objects can do this too. We could supply a name for example:

romeo = cat.Cat("Romeo")

Our Cat class will now need to be re-written though. This is not done in quite the same way
as it is in a function. It is done in a special method called a constructor.

Chapter 2: Objects, classes and factories 23

Constructors have a special bit of code that you will see quite often from now on. It looks a
little bit frightening at first but it is always the same – you will get used to it:

def __init__(self, name):

It always has the self argument to make sure that everyone understands that this
method is going to be available to each object built by this class. Next we must list the
other arguments that we want to pass to the constructor. In the above example the other
argument needed is name. We have nearly finished the new
theory. After this section it is only
Now let’s pause. You may not have been confused by the init surrounded by two a few more examples and then
you have learned the basics for
underscores on each side of it; you may have noticed that this is actually a method because
starting your project.
it has def at the beginning and a colon at the end; you may be a very clever coder! Most
students need a little encouragement at this stage – listen to Mr Campbell.

Now back to work! In this special method called a constructor we have to create a
self.name variable from name (yes that’s right, so that it is available to the object created
by this class). We then will use this new variable, self.name, in our methods.

We are adding self. to the front of all the variable names that are going to be available to
our objects and not simply to the class. This is why we end up with a lot of selfs!

Delving Deeper
When we build classes, we write methods that will be available to the objects we build (create instances of).
In a game of snooker, there may be several balls with different locations. Each one has a find_location()

Chapter 2: Objects, classes and factories 24

 method that refers only to itself, even though it has been built from the same class. This is why the methods in
our class have self passed to them as an argument. It is even cleverer than this though.
Programmatically the objects do, in actual fact, refer back to the class code for the method but each object
keeps track of its own data. It is as if each object has been built with its own methods that are specific to it
alone. It is as if the methods act independently of the other objects built by the same factory. This is just what
we would wish for when we build objects, and it is all done with one argument – self.

Open a new window in IDLE and copy the code from Code Box 2.3. Save it as cat2.py.
Compare this with cat.py (Code Box 2.1) to see how we use the new variable self.name
created in the constructor. Yes, that is all this constructor code has done: it has given you a
new variable that you can use! As before, this class does not run anything. It is just a factory,
but you are about to see how useful factories are.

Code Box 2.3

class Cat:
# constructor:
def __init__(self, name):
self.name = name

def speak(self):
print(self.name, " says Meow")

def drink(self):
print(self.name, " drinks some milk.")
print(self.name, " takes a nap.")

Chapter 2: Objects, classes and factories 25

Improving main.py
This is where all that hard work pays off. You are going to order two cats very quickly and
play with both. You will probably find the code makes sense without any help this time.
Open a new window in IDLE and copy the code from Code Box 2.4. Save it as main2.py.

O Romeo, Romeo!
Wherefore art thou
Code Box 2.4 Romeo?

import cat2

# create two instances of a cat

romeo = cat2.Cat("Romeo")
juliet = cat2.Cat("Juliet")

# play with Romeo

romeo.speak()
romeo.drink()

# play with Juliet

juliet.speak()
juliet.drink()

Run this file and then feel free to play and adjust the code. Have fun!
Chapter 2: Objects, classes and factories 26
Designing classes
This section introduces another simple example where you will get to practise what you have
learned and you will start to learn how to design a class. You are going to build a lift and a
lift operator.

Below is one way to make a class for a lift. There are many properties a lift can have, but in
terms of a program there are very few essentials.

The only essential feature of a lift is which floor it is on. Instead of ‘essential feature’ we
could call this a property or characteristic. In programming we call these characteristics
attributes (or sometimes parameters) and we initialise them in the constructor. We call lifts elevators
in the USA.

Class Name
Lift

Attributes
current floor

Methods
get floor
move to floor

Class design sheet 2.1 A lift class.

Chapter 2: Objects, classes and factories 27
We might also want to know how many passengers it can hold, or its velocity – but this lift
is going to be very simple. To plan a lift class we can use a class design sheet. You will find a
blank one in the Appendix at the end of this book and also on the companion website – so
you can print out your own should you wish. The design work goes into the class design
sheet. From this we can build our class.

Two methods are essential: one that finds out what floor the lift is on and another to move
the lift to a new floor. Now let’s see how this gets turned into code:

Class Name
Code Box 2.5
Lift # lift.py provides a Lift Class

class Lift:
Class Name
Attributes # constructor:
def __init__(self, current_floor=0):
current floor Constructor
self.current_floor = current_floor

def get_floor(self):
Methods
return self.current_floor
get floor Method

move to floor def move_to_floor(self, floor_number):

self.current_floor = floor_number

Chapter 2: Objects, classes and factories 28

Analysis of Code Box 2.5
There is a default value set for the current_floor attribute, 0. This can be seen in the
constructor method. Now, if we do not pass a current_floor argument to this class when it
builds a new lift object, the new lift will start on floor 0.

The return key word is used in the first method. This means that if we call this method in
our lift operator program it will return (give back) the value stored in the
self.current_floor variable.

The lift operator

lift_operator.py has some easy code that plays with the lift. Instead of typing it up
you can simply open and run it from the Chapter 2 folder in the source code files you have
downloaded from the companion website. The code can be seen on the next page in Code
Box 2.6.

Chapter 2: Objects, classes and factories 29

Code Box 2.6
# lift_operator.py

import lift

# create a lift object

my_lift = lift.Lift()

# Find out what floor the lift is on

floor = my_lift.get_floor()
print("The lift is on floor", floor)

# move the lift to a new floor

my_lift.move_to_floor(5)

# Find out what floor the lift is on now

floor = my_lift.get_floor()
print("The lift has now moved to floor", floor)

Experiment
When creating my_lift we did not include a current_floor variable so the lift
started on floor 0. Try altering this line of code to my_lift = lift.Lift(3) and
running again. Interesting, huh?

Chapter 2: Objects, classes and factories 30

Chapter summary
In this chapter you have learned:

• about classes, objects and how to design them

• how to build your own module
• a little about object-oriented programming – OOP A relaxing challenge!
That’s a new one.
• what a nuisance self can be!

This has been quite an intense chapter. If you are feeling overwhelmed, do not worry as the
MyPong project is going to reinforce many of these ideas and you will get the hang of them soon.

If you want some practise, try this easy and relaxing challenge. (Easy and relaxing if you
have the code for cat2.py and main2.py in front of you while you complete the challenge!)

Good luck.

Easy and relaxing challenge

Make a Pet class and save it in a file called pet.py.
Make an application called pet_owner.py to build and control some pets.
You can choose any pets you like such as hamsters or chinchillas. Alternatively you might
prefer tarantulas or piranhas. You will find that you have to be careful with what your
pets can do. Piranhas cannot speak or go for walk!

Chapter 2: Objects, classes and factories 31

The
MyPong
Project
There have been many versions of Pong made, written in many
programming languages. The great thing about Pong is that
everyone knows how to play it straight away and it is a great
little competitive two-player game. However, building the game
is simply a means to an end. The real aim of this project and
the book as a whole is to think about how to design bigger
applications and how to design the code in a way that it can be
re-used in other projects.
Chapter 3
Creating the Table
It’s time to start our project. By the end of this chapter you will have written the code for the
first class in our MyPong module. You can download this chapter’s files from the companion
website. There are two folders: pong-table-start and pong-table-final. The first folder
has Python start files with a skeleton made of comments. The second folder contains the
finished files for this chapter in case you cannot get yours to work.

Future chapters follow this pattern. The start files always contain the work you have already
done from the previous chapter with additional commenting. This is so that it is never a
disaster if you get confused. Another reason for providing all of these backup files is to
encourage you to experiment with your code at the end of each chapter without the fear
of losing your way. Please though, do try typing rather than just reading the files. You will
then be justified in calling MyPong your own when it is complete. You will also have a much
better chance of understanding how the code all works.

There is more in this chapter about how to design classes. This theme also continues in the
rest of the book.

Chapter 3: Creating the Table 34

In this chapter you are going to:
CHECKLIST
• design a Table class
Create a table
• learn a bit more about the tkinter module Add a ball
Add two bats
• build a simple graphical app.
Add the goals system
Add the scoring sysem
The big plan
Figure 3.1 shows how the final project will look. You will build a group of classes to
accomplish this. There will be a Ball class and a Bat class for example. The classes will be
built in a way that they could be used in other games. Indeed in the bonus chapter, they will
be. There are many games that have balls and bats in them!

Figure 3.1 The finished MyPong game.

Chapter 3: Creating the Table 35
The game is made up of:

• two bats
• a table with a net and a score board
• a ball
• two players.

We now have to decide how to separate this idea into classes by thinking of the objects we
require. There are several ways of doing this. Never think there is only one correct answer!

Obviously, we are going to create a Ball class and a Bat class. We will also need a file
called main.py which will control most things. There has to be a Table class otherwise this
chapter’s title would make no sense! But what should we do about the net, the rules and the
scoring system?

The obvious place for the rules will be in main.py. The net is very simple and though we
could build a Net class, it seems a lot of effort when all we need to do is draw a dashed line:
it can become part of the table. We do not have to program everything at once though. We
can wait and see how we feel later. This is the beauty of object-oriented programming in
action!

That is enough of a strategy to be able to start designing the first version of our Table class.

Chapter 3: Creating the Table 36

The Table class planning page
Here is a planning sketch and a table class design sheet.
width (perhaps 600 pixels)
Class Name
Table

Attributes
height window
(perhaps width=600
400
height=400
pixels)
colour=black
Ah yes, boolean variables: these
net_colour=green
allow us to clearly see what is True
colour (perhaps black) vertical_net (T/F) and what is False in the world.
horizontal_net
a net (its green, its vertical) (T/F)
needs to go in a window
Methods
Notes

It will be helpful to supply lots of default values such as 600 pixels for width.

The attributes are going to go in a lengthy constructor.

By having some boolean variables for the net position, it will be easy to use this class
to build a variety of tables with a net that is either vertical, horizontal or non-existent!

At the moment the table requires no methods.

Chapter 3: Creating the Table 37

The tkinter toolkit
An additional group of modules is installed along with Python 3, which provide us with This disadvantage of importing
some GUI widgets. These were explored in Python: Next Steps. modules like this is we must now
avoid using any tkinter method
names in our own code.
As we are going to use a lot of the methods from tkinter classes, we can choose to use
this line of code:

from tkinter import *

This means that we can refer to any of tkinter’s methods in the rest of our code. We no longer
need to precede every method with the name of the module where it can be found: we no
longer need to put tkinter. at the front of every tkinter method call.

The Table class constructor

Our constructor needs to be passed an argument for each of the attributes that we
want to be selectable when ordering a new object. Then we will assign them to all
the self.variables, as we have done before.

Open table.py from the pong-table-start folder. This file can be found in the Chapter 3
folder. Open this with IDLE and add the missing code from Code Box 3.1. Add your code to
the file shown in the header bar of the Code Box.

Can you see how this matches the first part of our plan?

Chapter 3: Creating the Table 38

Code Box 3.1 table.py
I never realised that the
# This class defines a Table that is a 2D rectangle that is a play area. British spelt color with
a ‘u’.

from tkinter import *

class Table:
#### constructor
def __init__(self, window, colour="black", net_colour="green",
width=600, height=400,
vertical_net=False, horizontal_net=False):
self.width = width
self.height = height
self.colour = colour

Classes built like this are very much like factories. In main.py we will be able to quickly
manufacture a table with code such as this:

my_table = table.Table(window)

Because of all the default values we have supplied in the constructor’s __init__ line, the
only argument required will be window. The class will make a table object that is just like
the one we want, with one exception.

Chapter 3: Creating the Table 39

 Quick Quiz 3.1
Look back at the __init__ line in Code Box 3.1 and the diagram of the required table on the
Table class planning page. What will the difference be between the table we get and the one
we want?

Building classes in this way means we can build a variety of tables in the future using one
line of code. The Table class becomes a very useful little factory (Figure 3.2). Do you want a
red table with a horizontal net that is 300 pixels by 300 pixels? Just ask:

my_table = table.Table(window, horizontal_net=True, width=300, height=300, colour="red")

Figure 3.2 Some table objects.

Chapter 3: Creating the Table 40

 Quick Quiz 3.2
What would the code be to make a blue table object with a vertical red net, which is
600 pixels wide by 400 pixels tall?

More tkinter tools

The constructor method is not quite finished as we have not told it to actually build the table
or the net yet. We will leave the drawing of the window for main.py (which will be written
very soon). To build our table we have to use some tkinter code which we might have to find
by looking up the instructions on the tkinter website. This is quite a large library and you do
not need to worry about doing this yourself as it has been done for you. Feel free to look if
you are interested. At the time of writing, instructions could be found here:

http://docs.python.org/py3k/library/tk.html

First we are required to make the canvas, which is coded like this:

self.canvas = Canvas(window, bg=self.colour, height=self.height, width=self.width)

The Canvas class is a tkinter factory that requires the arguments for a window, background
colour, height and width – all of which we have variables for in the first part of our
constructor.

Chapter 3: Creating the Table 41

 Delving Deeper
When to use self and when it is unnecessary
When we build a class such as a Table class, we need to pass it any attributes it is going to require to build its
table objects. For example, the table is going to go in a window object – so we need to pass the window to it as
an argument.
If on the other hand we are going to pass the Table class an attribute, such as width, which we might want
other classes or files to query (e.g. Table, how wide are you?) then we need to declare it in the constructor as
an object variable with self. Then, the classes or files could ask the table object how wide it is.

The next thing we have to do is call canvas’ pack() method. It does not require any
arguments:

self.canvas.pack()

The pack() method is required to make our table visible while performing other tasks. Next
we can use canvas’ create_line() method to draw a net. This takes the following form:

self.canvas.create_line(
[top x-coord], [top y-coord], [bottom x-coord],
[bottom y-coord], width=2, fill=net_colour, dash=(15, 23))

The width is in pixels so we want a line that is two pixels thick.

The fill is the colour of the line – we have a variable ready for that.

The dash attribute takes two numbers – the length of the dash and the spacing, also in pixels.
Chapter 3: Creating the Table 42
To understand the coordinates, it helps to know that unlike in maths and science at school,
computers often count pixels from the top left corner of the screen or window. This is the case
in Python. Look at Figure 3.3 to see how this works.

x-axis
(0, 0) (300, 0)

y-axis

(300, 400) (600, 400)

Figure 3.3 Coordinates.

So the call to implement the create_line() method, could be written as:

self.canvas.create_line(300, 0, 300, 400, width=2, fill=net_colour, dash=(15, 23))

Chapter 3: Creating the Table 43

This is not, however, a good way of doing it as we are trying to build a Table class. A factory
that can only build one type of table is not much use. What if we wanted a longer table?
The net would be too far to the left. A taller table would have a net that did not reach the
bottom! But we have variables that hold the width and height properties of the table object,
so we can calculate the coordinates from these in the method. Then the net will always be in
the correct place:

For a vertical net:

[top x-coord] becomes self.width/2

[top y-coord] becomes 0

[bottom x-coord] becomes self.width/2

[bottom y-coord] becomes self.height

For a horizontal net:

[left x-coord] becomes 0

[left y-coord] becomes self.height/2

[right x-coord] becomes self.width

[right y-coord] becomes self.height/2

Chapter 3: Creating the Table 44

You can now add the extra code in Code Box 3.2 to your copy of table.py. Use the
comments in the supplied file to guide you as to where to add the new code.

Code Box 3.2 table.py

# order a canvas to draw on from the tkinter factory:
self.canvas = Canvas(window, bg=self.colour, height=self.height, width=self.width)
self.canvas.pack()

# add a net to the canvas using a method from the tkinter factory:
if(vertical_net):
self.canvas.create_line(
self.width/2, 0, self.width/2,
self.height, width=2, fill=net_colour, dash=(15, 23))
if(horizontal_net):
self.canvas.create_line(
0, self.height/2, self.width,
self.height/2, width=2, fill=net_colour, dash=(15, 23))

Warning!

It is easy to make a typing mistake at some stage. Check your code carefully and when
you complete it, run the program and see if you can find and correct any problems. If you
have any difficulties and start to get frustrated, then the complete file is available from the
companion website. After all, coding should be fun. Before using the complete files, please do
try to type the code in yourself and think about how each line of code works as you type. You
will learn to code better if you do this. (This phrase appears to be in an infinite loop!)

Chapter 3: Creating the Table 45

The methods
We will add some methods to this class later. At the moment, all the Table class has to do is
be able to create static tables in a variety of shapes!

That finishes the Table class. As classes are factories and not table objects, table.py will
not do anything if you try to run it. At this stage, we have simply defined a Table class, not
manufactured any tables. Even so, please remember to save the file.

main.py
You now have to create the controlling program file called main.py. This file will change in
future chapters. At the moment it is quite short. The whole file can be seen in Code Box 3.3.

Code Box 3.3 main.py

# This is the main file for MyPong.

from tkinter import *

import table

# order a window from the tkinter factory

window = Tk()
window.title("MyPong")

Chapter 3: Creating the Table 46

 # order a table from the table factory
my_table = table.Table(window, net_colour="green", vertical_net=True)

# start the animation loop

window.mainloop()

A skeleton version of main.py is also in your pong-table-start folder so you can now
open it in IDLE and complete the code from Code Box 3.3.
It is so cool how we can
now make customised
orders for table objects in
Analysis of Code Box 3.3 just one line of code.

The first two lines of code import the tkinter toolkit and then import our table class file in the
normal way.

The next thing that happens in main.py is an order is made for a window object, which we
call window, from the Tk() class and we give it a title using the title method. Then a table
is ordered from our brand new Table factory which we assign to the variable my_table.
Finally, to get the whole thing going we call the window object’s mainloop() method. This
enters a loop where Tk() will wait for and react to events. This is needed so that it opens a
window containing our table.

Can you see that because we have designed our Table class well, everything we might want
to change can be done without opening that class? In other words, we can simply send
all our orders and instructions to the various classes in tkinter as well as to those we make
ourselves (such as the Table class).
Chapter 3: Creating the Table 47
Run and test
We are now in a position where we can test our Table class. Both files table.py and
main.py should be complete and in the same folder. In IDLE run the main.py file. You
should be presented with a table with a net!

If you have any bugs try to sort them out by comparing the colours in your code with those
in the Code Boxes in this book. Also, look carefully at the error messages in IDLE. Errors
could be in either file – IDLE’s messages will tell you where to look. This is called debugging.
It can be quite tricky sometimes, so if you have tried a few times, please use the two files in
the Chapter 3 folder found in the pong-table-final folder from the website.

Delving Deeper
When to build classes?
You may be wondering when it is best to build classes. Many object-oriented programming (OOP) experts will
try and build everything out of classes, including a Main class! However, there are many ways to go about
things, OOP is one of them and you have many choices within that. In this book you are being introduced to
a selection of OOP techniques which do not harness all of OOP’s benefits – or its complexities. The focus of this
book is to teach you how to build and interact with classes. We are therefore going to choose a class whenever
we want to build an object which we may want to use later in our coding life or when we want many of the
same kind of object.
To explain why we want a Table class is easy if you think of classes as factories. Without the net it can be the
stage for many games or animations. Later we are going to build a Bat class. We will write it so that it can
be a left or right bat. Then we may want to add code so we can have a bottom or top bat. If we were to serve
our ball from a bottom bat, it could now be a rocket launcher. If we place a pile of top bats above a bottom
bat (Figure 3.4) we could build a MyBreakout game (or should that be called MyBatout?). We would certainly
want a lot of bats then, and they could all be quickly built using our Bat class (or Bat factory).

Chapter 3: Creating the Table 48

Figure 3.4 Lots of bats.

Chapter summary
In this chapter you have:

• learned more about tkinter

• used your class-building knowledge to build a Table class
• learned a bit more about how classes are like factories
• used tkinter methods to get your computer to put our table in a new window.

Since we have made a factory, the challenges in this chapter are going to involve sending it
some orders. If you have downloaded the source code from the companion website, you can
now start hacking the code without worrying about harming your own files. There are fresh
Chapter 3: Creating the Table 49
start files ready for each of the remaining chapters so you do not get lost. Challenges 1–4 can
all be done in main.py.

Challenge 1
Change the title of the window to My Table Experiment.

Challenge 2
Create a square table that is blue with a black vertical net.

Challenge 3
Create a table that is black with a horizontal blue net.

Challenge 4
Create a long thin table that is 600 pixels wide and 60 pixels tall.

Challenge 5
Make the table as it was but with a net that is 20 pixels wide. (Hint: The line width was
hard coded (we did not create a variable for it in the constructor) so you will need to
adjust the code in the Table class.)
Chapter 3: Creating the Table 50
Chapter 4
Making the Ball
By the end of this chapter you will have written the code for the Ball class to go in your
MyPong module. We will call it ball.py.

There is more in this chapter about how to design classes. There is also a lot of use made of
the programming skills that you have already gained. Lots of games use a ball, so we are
creating code that is very re-usable.

In this chapter you are going to:

• design a Ball class

• learn how to add the ball to the table CHECKLIST

Create a table
• learn how to animate shapes in tkinter.
Add a ball
Add two bats
Add the goals system
Add the scoring sysem

Chapter 4: Making the Ball 51

Adding a ball
In this chapter we will add a ball to our game (Figure
4.1). First we must design a Ball class and then add it to
our table object. The ball is to be a simple circle which
moves around the screen bouncing off four walls. We
would like to create a class that can be re-used in other
games.

Figure 4.1 The ball in MyPong.

First we need to see how Python draws and positions
circles (Figure 4.2):

The circle is drawn in a square with its position on the table

(x1, y1)
determined by the x and y coordinates of the top left corner of
this square. So to build a circle we provide code like this:

self.canvas.create_oval(x1, y1, x2, y2, fill="red")

The ball will move and this is controlled by its speed along
the x-axis and its speed along the y-axis. If they are both
(x2, y2)
positive and equal, the ball will move down and to the right,
Figure 4.2 Drawing a circle. diagonally.

Now let’s start our Ball class plan.

Chapter 4: Making the Ball 52

The Ball class planning page
We can get stuck in straight away. We are simply going to build a ball factory so let’s get
designing:
Class Name
(x_posn, y_posn)
Ball

Attributes

width
height
x_speed x_posn
y_posn
colour
x_start
y_start
y_speed
x_speed
y_speed
Figure 4.3 The Ball class planning page. table
circle
Notes
Methods

start_position
The first five Ball class attributes should be fairly obvious. Then we
start_ball
add coordinates for where the ball is served from, as well as the move_next
horizontal and vertical speed. We also need a circle to be the ball, stop_ball
and our table for the ball to move on.

Chapter 4: Making the Ball 53

Let’s look at the methods now.

start_position():
This will be a simple method to put the ball back at its start position.

start_ball():
This method will get the ball moving. It sets the required x_speed and y_speed to the ball.

move_next():
Here we will have our most complex method, which will govern how the ball moves.
Basically, every 50 milliseconds the ball has to move somewhere else. This method controls
where this will be.

stop_ball():
With this simple method we will stop the ball. We set its x_speed and y_speed to zero.

Get typing
You should now open ball.py from the pong-ball-start within the Chapter 4 folder.
Complete this by copying in the missing code from Code Box 4.1. Make sure you think about
how the planning sheet gets turned into code as you go. (Are you becoming a faster typist yet?)

Chapter 4: Making the Ball 54

Code Box 4.1 ball.py

import table, random

class Ball:
#### constructor
def __init__(
self, table, width=14, height=14, colour="red",
x_speed=6, y_speed=4, x_start=0, y_start=0):
self.width = width
self.height = height
self.x_posn = x_start
self.y_posn = y_start
self.colour = colour

self.x_start = x_start
self.y_start = y_start
self.x_speed = x_speed
self.y_speed = y_speed
self.table = table
self.circle = self.table.draw_oval(self)

#### methods
def start_position(self):
self.x_posn = self.x_start
self.y_posn = self.y_start

(continues on the next page)

Chapter 4: Making the Ball 55

def start_ball(self, x_speed, y_speed):
self.x_speed = -x_speed if random.randint(0,1) else x_speed
self.y_speed = -y_speed if random.randint(0,1) else y_speed
self.start_position()

def move_next(self):
self.x_posn = self.x_posn + self.x_speed
When I copy code, I
self.y_posn = self.y_posn + self.y_speed
always try to predict what
# if the ball hits the left wall: is coming next. There
if(self.x_posn <= 3): are quite a lot of similar
self.x_posn = 3 methods in the Ball class
self.x_speed = -self.x_speed so I managed to get
# if it hits right wall: quite a few correct with
this one.
if(self.x_posn >= (self.table.width - (self.width - 3))):
self.x_posn = (self.table.width - (self.width - 3))
self.x_speed = -self.x_speed
# if the ball hits hits the top wall:
if(self.y_posn <= 3):
self.y_posn = 3
self.y_speed = -self.y_speed
# if it hits bottom wall:
if(self.y_posn >= (self.table.height - (self.height - 3))):
self.y_posn = (self.table.height - (self.height - 3))
self.y_speed = -self.y_speed

Chapter 4: Making the Ball 56

 # finally move the circle:
x1 = self.x_posn
x2 = self.x_posn+self.width
y1 = self.y_posn
y2 = self.y_posn+self.height
self.table.move_item(self.circle, x1, y1, x2, y2)

def stop_ball(self):
self.x_speed = 0
self.y_speed = 0

Apart from the move_next() method there is nothing you should not be able to cope with
here. There is a full explanation of the move_next() method at the end of the chapter. For
now, do not forget to save your work, then we will keep coding.

Getting the ball to move by

improving the table
To get the ball to move we need to add a couple of tools to our Table class because this is
where the ball has to be drawn. We have already written a Table class in table.py. There
is another copy of this in the pong-ball-start folder for this chapter. This has all the
code from before and a blank space for you to add a little bit more.

Chapter 4: Making the Ball 57

It is perhaps time to realise why we are using the methods from the tkinter Canvas class.
A canvas is a place where we paint. Although our game is representing table tennis and as
such we make a Table class, the computer is in fact painting shapes on a rectangle and then
re-painting them every 50 milliseconds – hence the idea of a canvas.

The table will eventually have to be able to add circles and rectangles to the canvas so now
is the time to give our factory a few new tools. Open table.py from the pong-ball-start
folder. You can study the new draw_rectangle() method which calls tkinter’s create_
rectangle() method. This code is also shown in Code Box 4.2.

Code Box 4.2 table.py

# extra tool for adding a rectangle to the canvas
def draw_rectangle(self, rectangle):
x1 = rectangle.x_posn
x2 = rectangle.x_posn + rectangle.width
y1 = rectangle.y_posn
y2 = rectangle.y_posn + rectangle.height
c = rectangle.colour
return self.canvas.create_rectangle(x1, y1, x2, y2, fill=c)

Now try to write a draw_oval() method using tkinter’s create_oval() method. Remember
that an oval is created inside a box, just like a rectangle. The answer is provided in Code Box 4.3.

Chapter 4: Making the Ball 58

Code Box 4.3 table.py
# extra tool for adding an oval to the canvas
def draw_oval(self, oval):
x1 = oval.x_posn
x2 = oval.x_posn + oval.width
y1 = oval.y_posn
y2 = oval.y_posn + oval.height
c = oval.colour
return self.canvas.create_oval(x1, y1, x2, y2, fill=c)

This method starts by collecting an oval as an argument. We will be passing it an instance of

a ball. To aid readability, we define tkinter’s required arguments in terms of our ball object’s
attributes. Then we draw the ball onto the canvas.

Three more table methods

The table will also need to be able to move balls and rectangles, remove them and
change their colour. Several things such as ovals and rectangles use the same method
names in tkinter, allowing us to simply supply the table with three generic methods for
manipulating items on it. Copy the code from Code Box 4.4 into your table.py file to
complete the Table class.

Chapter 4: Making the Ball 59

Code Box 4.4 table.py
# extra tools for manipulating items on the canvas:
def move_item(self, item, x1, y1, x2, y2):
self.canvas.coords(item, x1, y1, x2, y2)

def remove_item(self, item):

self.canvas.delete(item)

def change_item_colour(self, item, c):

There is absolutely no problem
self.canvas.itemconfigure(item, fill=c) improving your classes by supplying
new methods when they occur to
you. It is just like making a factory
The move_item() method is the most interesting new tool we have supplied to our table more flexible by providing it with
factory. It takes six arguments: new machinery.

self – a reference to the current table object built from this class. We do not supply this
because it is automatically provided by Python (however, it has to be declared).

item – we are going to pass it a reference to the items on our canvas that we want to move.
This will work for any item that is contained in a bounding box. In this chapter we pass it
the circle that represents our ball.

x1, y1, x2, y2 – these are the coordinates for the bounding box. x1 and y1 are the
coordinates for the top left of the box. x2 and y2 are the coordinates for the bottom right of
the box (Figure 4.3).

Chapter 4: Making the Ball 60

(x1, y1)

(x2, y2)
Figure 4.3 The circle’s bounding box.

Adjusting main.py
Now we must adjust main.py. This is where we store the rules and run the objects such as
the ball. Again there is a starter file from last time with some spaces for you to add the new
code. The final file should look like that in Code Box 4.5.

Code Box 4.5 main.py

from tkinter import *

import table, ball

# initialise global variables Do not forget to

x_velocity = 10 import ball
y_velocity = 10

# order a window from the tkinter window factory

window = Tk()
window.title("MyPong")
(continues on the next page)
Chapter 4: Making the Ball 61
 # order a table from the table factory
my_table = table.Table(window, net_colour="green", vertical_net=True)

# order a ball from the ball factory

my_ball = ball.Ball(
table=my_table, x_speed=x_velocity, y_speed=y_velocity,
width=24, height=24, colour="red", x_start=288, y_start=188)

#### functions:
def game_flow():
my_ball.move_next()
window.after(50, game_flow)

# call the game_flow loop

game_flow()

# start the tkinter loop process

window.mainloop()

Analysis of Code Box 4.5

Make sure you add ball to the import line – we have a new factory to use.

In the constructor you order a new ball from the Ball class – it is called my_ball.

Chapter 4: Making the Ball 62

To turn this into a game we will need to add a few functions. Because main.py is not a class,
it will have functions rather than methods. First, we need a function that animates the ball.
game_flow() will grow more complex in the next two chapters but for now it calls my_ball’s
move_next() method and then creates an animation loop using the window.after()
method:

window.after(50, game_flow)

The first argument selects a 50 millisecond wait, and the second argument gives the function
to be called after that wait. The after() function has been designed to add an event to
the mainloop(). In our code, after() calls its containing function; therefore, it effectively
produces an infinite loop where the my_ball.move_next() function is called every
50 milliseconds.

Before we call the mainloop() method at the end of main.py, we need to add one more line
of code to call our new function into action: game_flow(). Finished!

Delving Deeper
Global or local?
A variable that is created in a function or method is said to be a local variable. These variables exist inside
the function but are not available to be called or used in the rest of our programs. They can even have the
same names as variables in other functions or methods, although this is not a good idea. A global variable is
often declared at the beginning of our code. We want access to their values at all times. Sometimes we might
want to use a global variable inside a method or function. This is fine if we only want to read the value of the

(continues on the next page)

Chapter 4: Making the Ball 63
 variable. If the method or function needs to change the global variable’s value, then it must be re-declared
inside the function, with the keyword global in front.
If the keyword global is omitted, a new local variable with the same name is created. If we do not declare
it inside the function at all, then we will get a ‘local variable referenced before assignment’ error when the
function tries to change its value! In other words, the computer does not recognise it as the global variable we
intended, and tells us that we are trying to access a non-existent local variable.

Testing and debugging

We are now in a position where we can test our Ball class. First make sure your three files are
saved. In IDLE run the main.py file. If all is well you should be presented with a table with a
net and a red ball that bounces off the walls!

If there are any errors, try to sort them out and take particular notice of which file the error
has occurred in. It can be quite tricky sometimes with several files so if you have tried a
few times and are not getting anywhere, use the files from the companion website. These
can be found in the pong-ball-final folder in the Chapter 4 folder. It is a good learning
experience to carefully compare your file with the working one. All those days playing spot-
the-difference when you were younger will truly pay off now. It is good to notice what errors
creep into your code so that you can try to avoid them in the future.

The move_next() method

Earlier it was stated that we would come back and explain the move_next() method in
ball.py – well here is the explanation!

Chapter 4: Making the Ball 64

Do feel free to skip to the Challenges section at the end of the chapter if you are feeling a bit The move_next() method is
worn out. You will still understand enough to mess around with the code and complete the not all that bad. If you have
challenges. the code in front of you while
you read the explanation I am
sure you’ll get it.
To follow this explanation it is best to call up ball.py in IDLE so you have the code in front
of you. The move_next() method has the job of moving the ball to its next position. In
main.py we call it every 50 milliseconds.

First we add the x_speed to the x_posn of our ball and then do the same for the y_posn.
The x_speed and y_speed are integers. They are the number of pixels to move the ball
each ‘tick’ of the animation. If there are no collisions, this is all that is required to move the
ball in a straight line:

self.x_posn = self.x_posn + self.x_speed

self.y_posn = self.y_posn + self.y_speed

We then need a number of tests to see if the ball has hit any of the walls of our canvas
object. The ball’s x_posn is the top-left coordinate of its bounding box and therefore also
the left edge of the circle. So, in the first test we look to see if x_posn is less than three pixels
from the left wall of the canvas (see the next Delving Deeper to see why we use 3 pixels). If it
is, then the x_speed’s sign is reversed. A positive x_speed sends the ball to the right, while a
negative x_speed sends the ball to the left. So the speed in this case will have been negative
and we are making it positive. That is all that is necessary to bounce the ball.

if(self.x_posn <= 3): # if hits the left wall

self.x_posn = 3
self.x_speed = -self.x_speed

Chapter 4: Making the Ball 65

The right hand wall is detected and handled in the same way, but detecting the right wall
requires us to know the width of the canvas and compare it with 3 pixels less than the right
edge of the ball – that is the ball’s x_posn again plus the ball’s width.

The last two if statements test for hitting the bottom and top of the canvas and then reverse
the y_speed.

Finally, we take the results of these tests, compile them into a set of new coordinates and pass
them to the move_item() method in our table object – found in the Table class:

self.table.
move_item(self.circle, x1, y1, x2, y2)

We have already updated all of the ball’s attributes but nothing will appear to happen until
we update the position of the circle that represents our ball. This is why we pass
self.circle rather than just self to the move_item() method.

Delving Deeper
Why all the threes?
Have you noticed that there are quite a few number threes in this code? Without the threes, the ball does not
appear to bounce naturally. Real balls do not turn around as soon as they hit a wall without being squashed.
The threes have been added to make this look realistic. The code now does not bounce the ball until it is going
to be 3 pixels beyond the wall. Changing the shape of the ball is unnecessarily difficult, but the 3 pixels trick
creates the correct illusion.
The 3 pixels trick has been chosen by experimentation, until it looks right. Experimentation sounds so much
better than ‘trial and error’ don’t you think?

Chapter 4: Making the Ball 66

Chapter summary
In this chapter you have:

• learned more about tkinter

• used your class building knowledge to design and build a Ball class
• learned how accuracy is not as important as the correct illusion.

It is now time to experiment with the ball. So that you do not get confused, shut down IDLE
and make a copy of the pong-ball-final folder and its contents and call it pong-ball-
challenges. Now open the main.py file from your new folder by double clicking on it. This will
open IDLE at the same time. There is no need to fully understand everything to be able to move
on. If you can complete some of this chapter’s challenges, then you are making great progress.

Chapter 4: Making the Ball 67

Challenge 1
Can you make the ball bigger? Does it still bounce well? (Ok, the ball
on the right is obviously too big!)

Challenge 2
Find out what happens when you change the x_speed and y_speed.

Challenge 3
Change the colour of the ball to green. It is best to do this in main.py.

Challenge 4
Can you change the shape of the ball so that it looks like a rugby ball?
Hint: This can be done in main.py when ordering the ball.

Challenge 5
If you want a slightly harder challenge, try to add some gravity to the game.
Gravity applies a constant force downward. In terms of code, all you have to do is keep
adding a tiny amount of y_speed all the time (i.e. at every animation ‘tick’).
Chapter 4: Making the Ball 68
Chapter 5
Building the Bats

By the end of this chapter you will have written the code for the Bat class to go in our
MyPong module.

There is more in this chapter about how to design classes and a short section about
communication between all of our objects. There is also a lot of use made of the
programming skills you have already learned. There are a lot of games that use bats, so
again we are creating code that is very re-usable.

The Bat class is our most complicated class.

CHECKLIST
In this chapter you are going to:
Create a table
• design a Bat class Add a ball
Add two bats
• learn how to add bats to the table
Add the goals system
• learn how objects communicate with each other. Add the scoring sysem

Chapter 5: Building the Bats 69

Adding a bat
In this chapter we will add two bats to our game. First, we must design a Bat class and then
use it to manufacture two bats to add to our table object.

The bat is to be a simple rectangle that moves up and down the screen (Figure 5.1). The ball
must bounce off our bat in a similar way to the walls. We would like a re-usable class that
can be used in other games.

Figure 5.1 The bats in MyPong.

Chapter 5: Building the Bats 70

First we need to see how tkinter draws and positions rectangles (Figure 5.2):
(x1, y1)

(x2, y2)
Figure 5.2 Drawing a rectangle.

The rectangle is drawn with its position on the table determined by the x1 and y1 coordinates
of the top left corner. So to build a rectangle we write code like this:

self.canvas.create_rectangle(x1, y1, x2, y2, width=10, fill="blue")

Note that this is drawn on the canvas and uses the tkinter module. We have prepared
for this though and we have already added a draw method to the Table class called
draw_rectangle().

The bats will move and this is controlled by their speed along the y-axis. If the speed is
positive, the bat will move down vertically.

The create_rectangle() method takes a width argument that is the width of the border.

Now let’s start our Bat class plan.

Chapter 5: Building the Bats 71
The Bat class planning page
On this page we are going to build a bat factory that can produce a left or right bat so let’s
get designing:
(x1, y1)
Class Name

Bat

Attributes

height width
width
height
x_posn
y_posn
(x2, y2) colour
y_speed x_speed
y_speed
Notes table object
rectangle

The first seven Bat-class attributes should be fairly obvious as they Methods
are similar to the Ball class (which is also created in a box). We detect_collision
also need a rectangle to be the bat and a table object for the bat to
move on. The interesting attributes are the speed attributes: move_up
move_down
move_left
y_speed
move_right
The bat’s movement will be attached to a key press. The speed is go_to_start_position
simply the number of pixels it can jump for each press of the key.
So y_speed will be set to a default of 23 pixel jumps (which seems
to work well).

Chapter 5: Building the Bats 72

x_speed
This is not required for our game but we want this class to be re-usable in other games – so in
it goes. In our game we set x_speed to 0.

In this chapter we will discuss the methods as we require them. The simplest is the
start_position() method: this will be a simple method to put the ball back at its start position.

Get typing
You should now look inside the Chapter 5 folder and open the bat.py file from the
pong-bat-start folder. There is very little code provided for you this time. You can now
add the code from Code Box 5.1 and save it. Again, think carefully about how the planning
sheet gets turned into code as you type. You should be able to copy and paste several of
the methods and then try to adjust them yourself without looking. This is a great way of
learning and reinforcing your new knowledge.

Code Box 5.1 bat.py

import table

class Bat:
#### constructor
def __init__(self, table, width=15, height=100, x_posn=50,
y_posn=50, colour="green", x_speed=23, y_speed=23):
self.width = width
self.height = height
self.x_posn = x_posn

(continues on the next page)

Chapter 5: Building the Bats 73
 self.y_posn = y_posn
self.colour = colour
self.x_start = x_posn
self.y_start = y_posn
self.x_speed = x_speed
self.y_speed = y_speed
self.table = table
self.rectangle = self.table.draw_rectangle(self)

#### methods
def move_up(self, master):
self.y_posn = self.y_posn - self.y_speed
if(self.y_posn <= 0):
self.y_posn = 0
x1 = self.x_posn
x2 = self.x_posn+self.width
y1 = self.y_posn
y2 = self.y_posn+self.height
self.table.move_item(self.rectangle, x1, y1, x2, y2)

def move_down(self, master):

self.y_posn = self.y_posn + self.y_speed
far_bottom = self.table.height - self.height
if(self.y_posn >= far_bottom):
self.y_posn = far_bottom
x1 = self.x_posn
x2 = self.x_posn+self.width
y1 = self.y_posn

Chapter 5: Building the Bats 74

 y2 = self.y_posn+self.height
self.table.move_item(self.rectangle, x1, y1, x2, y2)

def move_left(self, master):

self.x_posn = self.x_posn - self.x_speed
if(self.x_posn <= 0):
self.x_posn = 0
x1 = self.x_posn
x2 = self.x_posn+self.width
y1 = self.y_posn
y2 = self.y_posn+self.height
self.table.move_item(self.rectangle, x1, y1, x2, y2)

def move_right(self, master):

self.x_posn = self.x_posn + self.x_speed
far_right = self.table.width - self.width
if(self.x_posn >= far_right):
self.x_posn = far_right
x1 = self.x_posn
x2 = self.x_posn+self.width
y1 = self.y_posn
y2 = self.y_posn+self.height
self.table.move_item(self.rectangle, x1, y1, x2, y2)

def start_position(self):
self.x_posn = self.x_start
self.y_posn = self.y_start

Chapter 5: Building the Bats 75

Getting the bats to move
If you run main.py now, you will find that the bats do not appear.

Quick Quiz 5.1

Why do the bats not appear?
A  We have not ordered any bats in main.py.
B  We have not attached their methods to any keyboard input.
C  We have not typed out the code correctly.
D  Table does not know how to draw bats.

So we need to send some orders from main.py to our new bat factory for a left and right bat.
You should now copy the new code from Code Box 5.2 into main.py.
First we order two bats from our new class. Then we attach the movement methods to key
presses on the keyboard – you will remember from Python Basics that this is pleasingly simple
in Python. Here again there is a start file where you will find some spaces for you to add the
new code.

Code Box 5.2 main.py

from tkinter import *

import table, ball, bat
Do not forget to import
# initialise global variables the bat class!
x_velocity = 10
y_velocity = 10

Chapter 5: Building the Bats 76

# order a window from the tkinter window factory
window = Tk()
window.title("MyPong")

# order a table from the table factory

my_table = table.Table(window, net_colour="green", vertical_net=True)

# order a ball from the ball factory

my_ball = ball.Ball(table=my_table, x_speed=x_velocity, y_speed=y_velocity,
width=24, height=24, colour="red", x_start=288, y_start=188)

# order a left and right bat from the bat factory

bat_L = bat.Bat(table=my_table, width=15, height=100, x_posn=20, y_posn=150, colour="blue")
bat_R = bat.Bat(table=my_table, width=15, height=100, x_posn=575, y_posn=150, colour="yellow")

#### functions:
def game_flow():
# detect if ball has hit the bats:

my_ball.move_next()
window.after(50, game_flow)

(continues on the next page)

Chapter 5: Building the Bats 77

 # bind the controls of the bats to keys on the keyboard
window.bind("a", bat_L.move_up)
window.bind("z", bat_L.move_down)
window.bind("<Up>", bat_R.move_up)
window.bind("<Down>", bat_R.move_down)

# call the game_flow loop

game_flow()

# start the tkinter loop process

window.mainloop()

Analysis of Code Box 5.2

You should have no problem seeing how the order for the two bats works. The way Python
binds methods to key presses is a joy to behold. If you save and run main.py now you
will see two bats appear that you can move up and down. The ball currently ignores them
completely. We still need to add collision detection to the Bat class.

Getting the bats to hit the ball

First let’s adjust our game_flow() function in main.py. With main.py still open, adjust the
game_flow() function so that it matches Code Box 5.3. Please note that the game will no
longer work because we have not written the method yet.

Chapter 5: Building the Bats 78

Code Box 5.3 main.py
#### functions:
def game_flow():
# detect if ball has hit the bats:
bat_L.detect_collision(my_ball)
bat_R.detect_collision(my_ball)

my_ball.move_next()
window.after(50, game_flow)

Being clear about classes and objects

In Figure 5.3 you will see a summary of how all the classes are used to build objects and how
main.py gathers all the objects and runs the game. It is easy to get confused between objects
and classes as they often have similar names. Remember that classes all begin with capitals.

It is especially important to be clear when constructing the game in main.py because we

have to build in the correct order. This is so that when ordering a bat, for example, there is
an already built – or instantiated – table object. This is not something that is truly easy to
get your head around. As you write more and more applications in this way it will become
easier. Nevertheless, it is always important to try to understand the relationships between
classes and objects so that you can successfully build large applications as you gain more
experience.

Chapter 5: Building the Bats 79

 Classes, Objects and Messages in MyPong By the end of this book
objects: you will have your own
deliveries
Pong game and be able to
orders
customise it yourself even if
Table
you cannot design and build
your own 3D multi-world

1 ta
Class platform game. That can

ord

ble
table

er:

wit
s
va

take years of experience.

1
an

hn
tab
1c

et
le w
...
Ball ball

ith
ts
jec

net
1b
s

ob
nva

all rs
e
bats
1 ca

th
ga
er:

or
ord

le

de
irc
rcle

r: 1
1c
1 ci

ba

... and arranges them into a game

main.py
ll
er:
ord

ts
2 ba
g le Bat ats
an r: 2 b
ec
t orde
1r gl
e
r: ta
n
de ec
or 1r

Tkinter

main

Figure 5.3 Classes, objects and messages.

Detecting if the ball hits the bats

You are now going to add the collision detection function to the bat class in bat.py. When
called, a bat object (such as the left bat) will detect if a collision has taken place and can
then alter the ball object’s (my_ball) velocity accordingly.
Chapter 5: Building the Bats 80
The final code looks a bit complicated but we will build it a bit at a time. First, re-open the
copy of bat.py that you have been working on. Add the new code from Code Box 5.4.

Code Box 5.4 bat.py

#### methods
def detect_collision(self, ball):
collision_direction = ""
collision = False
feel = 5

# bat variables:
top = self.y_posn
bottom = self.y_posn + self.height
left = self.x_posn
right = self.x_posn + self.width
v_centre = top + (self.height/2)
h_centre = left + (self.width/2)

# ball variables:
top_b = ball.y_posn
bottom_b = ball.y_posn + ball.height
left_b = ball.x_posn
right_b = ball.x_posn + ball.width
r = (right_b - left_b)/2
v_centre_b = top_b + r
h_centre_b = left_b + r
(continues on the next page)
Chapter 5: Building the Bats 81
 if((bottom_b > top) and (top_b < bottom) and (right_b > left) and (left_b < right)):
collision = True
print("collision")

At the beginning of the detect_collision() code, all that happens is we define a lot of
variables and then detect if there is a collision. These variables are summarised in Figure 5.4.
r
top top_b

v_centre_b

bottom_b
v_centre
left_b right_b

h_centre_b
bottom

left right

h_centre
Figure 5.4 Bat and ball variables.

With all the variables added, the if clause tests to see if any edge of the ball has entered the
space occupied by the bat. If so it sets the variable collision to True and prints ‘collision’ to
the console. This will be removed later – it is purely for testing purposes. So test it. Save
bat.py and main.py and then run main.py. Remember that the ball is still unaffected by this
function so passes through the bats but it should send several collision messages to the console
as it does. You may have to use the keys to move the bats to get them in the way of the ball.

Chapter 5: Building the Bats 82

 Delving Deeper
The function design process
The collision detection could be a simple affair if we decided to detect if the ball has reached the leading
edge of the two bats. But what if we want to have horizontal bats, or perhaps put them in the centre of the
screen and have the ball bounce off all sides? To make the Bat class more useful, we are going to add this full
functionality. So with a sketch like the one on page 82 and a coaster and a book to represent a bat and ball
colliding, the designer sets about working this out.
All the variables typed here will be used eventually:
collision_direction
will store which edge of the bat was collided with ( "N", "S", "E" or "W" ).
collision
is a boolean variable which will be set to True if a collision has been detected.
feel
is a constant that we can use to adjust the sensitivity of the angle the ball bounces off the bat later.

Hitting the ball

If all is well, you can delete print("collision") from your new function. Now just as in
the case of the ball hitting the table wall, all that needs to happen is we reverse the sign of
the ball’s x or y-speed. However, we have to know which wall is hit first. This is what the code
in Code Box 5.5 does. You can add it now and think about how it works as you type.

Chapter 5: Building the Bats 83

Code Box 5.5 bat.py
if((bottom_b > top) and (top_b < bottom) and (right_b > left) and (left_b < right)):
collision = True
if(collision):
if((top_b > top-r) and (bottom_b < bottom+r) and (right_b > right) and (left_b <= right)):
collision_direction = "E"
ball.x_speed = abs(ball.x_speed)

elif((left_b > left-r) and (right_b < right+r) and (bottom_b > bottom) and (top_b <= bottom)):
collision_direction = "S"
ball.y_speed = abs(ball.y_speed)

elif((left_b > left-r) and (right_b < right+r) and (top_b < top) and (bottom_b >= top)):
collision_direction = "N"
ball.y_speed = -abs(ball.y_speed)

elif((top_b > top-r) and (bottom_b < bottom+r) and (left_b < left) and (right_b >= left)):
collision_direction = "W"
ball.x_speed = -abs(ball.x_speed)

else:
collision_direction = "miss"

return (collision, collision_direction)

Chapter 5: Building the Bats 84

Analysis of Code Box 5.5
As well as there being some complicated tests, there are a couple of other things to point out.

abs() is a Python function that removes the sign from a number variable. Therefore, both
–1.5 and 1.5 become 1.5. It enables us to get the value of the speed without the positive or
negative sign.

This function now alters the ball’s bounce direction depending on which part of the bat the
ball collides with. It does more than this though; it stores which side of the bat the collision
occurred at and whether there has been a collision. These two extra bits of information are
returned by the function in the last line as a two item tuple. We are not going to make use
of this currently, but again it makes this a much more useful class: we can also now test
for collisions and find out which wall has been hit by selecting which part of the tuple we
require, using its index:

bat_hits_ball=bat_L.detect_collision(my_ball)
print(bat_hits_ball[0]) --> True

or

bat_hits_ball=bat_L.detect_collision(my_ball)
print(bat_hits_ball[1]) --> N

or simply

bat_hits_ball=bat_L.detect_collision(my_ball)
print(bat_hits_ball) --> (True, N)
Chapter 5: Building the Bats 85
Testing time All of the code in this book has been
tested at the Coding Club. When we
first tried to get the ball to collide
If all is well you should have two working bats. The right bat is controlled with the bats I remember distinctly
by the up and down arrows and the left bat is controlled by the a and z keys on how we had trouble getting the ball
your keyboard. They also hit the ball! to bounce in the way we wanted.
It was Ollie who suggested putting
In the next chapter, we will add a score board, reset the game, serve the ball in the return(collision,
collision_direction) code.
and generally finish the project.
We were then able to have printouts
sent to the console of exactly what was

Bonus time
happening. This slows down the ball’s
movement as well as giving us line-by-
line feedback, which proved very helpful
This has been a long and complicated chapter – well done if you have followed it in our debugging process. We left the
return code in so that if we need to
all! Before we go on to the Puzzles and Challenges you could give yourself a break!
know which face of a bat the ball hits we
Take a look in the pong-bat-bonus folder for this chapter and open bat.py. can easily get the information.
You will see that the detect_collision() method has some extra code. What this
does is add a ‘sweet spot’ to the bats: if the ball hits the middle of the bat it hits
the ball directly at the opposition. If it does not then it goes off to the side.

Chapter 5: Building the Bats 86

The method can be sent arguments to turn on and off this functionality for either vertical
bats or horizontal bats. The new code can be seen in Code Box 5.6 but if you have
downloaded the source code there is no need to copy it in – it is supplied for your use.

Code Box 5.6 bat.py

#### methods
def detect_collision(self, ball, sides_sweet_spot=True, topnbottom_sweet_spot=False):
collision_direction = ""
collision = False
feel = 5
# bat variables:
top = self.y_posn
bottom = self.y_posn + self.height
left = self.x_posn
right = self.x_posn + self.width
v_centre = top + (self.height/2)
h_centre = left + (self.width/2)
# ball variables:
top_b = ball.y_posn
bottom_b = ball.y_posn + ball.height
left_b = ball.x_posn
right_b = ball.x_posn + ball.width
r = (right_b - left_b)/2
v_centre_b = top_b + r
h_centre_b = left_b + r

if((bottom_b > top) and (top_b < bottom) and (right_b > left) and (left_b < right)):

(continues on the next page)

Chapter 5: Building the Bats 87

 collision = True
if(collision):
if((top_b > top-r) and (bottom_b < bottom+r) and (right_b > right) and (left_b <= right)):
collision_direction = "E"
ball.x_speed = abs(ball.x_speed)

elif((left_b > left-r) and (right_b < right+r) and (bottom_b > bottom) and (top_b <= bottom)):
collision_direction = "S"
ball.y_speed = abs(ball.y_speed)

elif((left_b > left-r) and (right_b < right+r) and (top_b < top) and (bottom_b >= top)):
collision_direction = "N"
ball.y_speed = -abs(ball.y_speed)

elif((top_b > top-r) and (bottom_b < bottom+r) and (left_b < left) and (right_b >= left)):
collision_direction = "W"
ball.x_speed = -abs(ball.x_speed)
else:
collision_direction = "miss"

if((sides_sweet_spot == True) and (collision_direction == "W" or collision_direction == "E")):

# find out how far from the centre of the bat the collision was
adjustment = (-(v_centre - v_centre_b))/(self.height/2)
ball.y_speed = feel * adjustment
if((topnbottom_sweet_spot == True) and (collision_direction == "N" or collision_direction == "S")):
# find out how far from the centre of the bat the collision was
adjustment = (-(h_centre - h_centre_b))/(self.width/2)
ball.x_speed = feel * adjustment

return (collision, collision_direction)

Chapter 5: Building the Bats 88

Chapter summary
In this chapter you have:

• learned more about how classes and objects interact

• used your class-building knowledge to design and build a Bat class
• added keyboard control to the main() method
• made significant progress towards finishing MyPong.

Now it is time to experiment with the bats. To avoid confusion, shut down IDLE and make a
copy of the pong-bat-final folder and its contents and call it pong-bat-working. Now
open the main.py file from your new folder by double clicking on it. This will open IDLE at
the same time. If you can accomplish some of this chapter’s challenges and ideas then you
are making great progress.

Challenge 1
Can you make the bats bigger or give them different colours?

Challenge 2
Find out if the bats still behave well with a different sized ball.

Chapter 5: Building the Bats 89

 I prefer bats without the
Idea 1 sweet spots. More 'old
school'.
Can you spot the difference between the way the bats behave in the game in the final
folder versus how they behaved in your game?

Can you see how this was achieved? (Hint: look in the bat.py file or Code Box 5.5.)
It is a matter of taste as to how you want the bats to hit the ball. This new version defines
a sweet spot where the ball is hit back perpendicular to the bat if it is hit in the middle.
If it is hit on an edge it goes in that direction. Careful positioning of the bat can now be
used to control the direction the ball goes. Try changing the arguments when ordering
the bats in main.py to override the sides_sweet_spot argument and see which kind of
behaviour you prefer.

I think the
Idea 2 sweet spot adds
realism.
Change the value of the feel variable until you are happy with how sensitive the bats are
when the sweet spot behaviour is turned on.

Idea 3
This is a little bit trickier. Try to change the game so that it is a one-player game with only
one bat at the bottom. The object is to stop the ball from hitting the bottom wall. (Hint:
remember that now you have built robust classes, most tasks can be achieved by ordering
the correct kinds of bats and balls from within main.py.)

Chapter 5: Building the Bats 90

Chapter 6
The rules and scoring
By the end of this chapter you will have completed MyPong and built a useful module for
developing other games. In this chapter we will make adjustments to two of our files but
we will not make any new classes. There is also more about when to make a new class and
when to add methods to your existing classes.

In this chapter you are going to:

• stop the ball bouncing off the left and right walls

• add a scoring system to your game

CHECKLIST
• finish MyPong!
Create a table
Add a ball
Add two bats
Add the goals system
Add the scoring sysem

Chapter 6: The rules and scoring 91

Scoring a goal
The first job is to make sure that we detect and deal with the ball hitting the left and right
walls of our table, because this results in a goal.

So, first we have to detect when the ball hits the left wall. We have already
done this in the Ball class:

if(self.x_posn <= 3):

# further code goes here

The Ball class is not where we want to change this behaviour as it will
become less useful for other games. Instead we will detect the collision
in main.py and handle it in a new way. This is because this is a specific
rule for this game.

Let’s see how hard it is to write it out again in main.py:

if(my_ball.x_posn <= 3):

# further code goes here

Chapter 6: The rules and scoring 92

 Delving Deeper
The need for 3 pixels again
The logical thing to do would be to test to see if the left side of the ball reaches 0 – this will often not be the
case because the ball is really an animation of a circle jumping from one position to the next. So instead, we
test if it is within 3 pixels.

Now to add the code to deal with the ball hitting the left wall. In the Chapter 6 folder, open
main.py in the pong-score-start folder. Amend the code in the move_next() method in
line with the code supplied in Code Box 6.1.

Code Box 6.1 main.py

# detect if ball has hit the left wall:
if(my_ball.x_posn <= 3):
my_ball.stop_ball()
my_ball.start_position()
bat_L.start_position()
bat_R.start_position()
my_table.move_item(bat_L.rectangle, 20, 150, 35, 250)
my_table.move_item(bat_R.rectangle, 575, 150, 590, 250)

Chapter 6: The rules and scoring 93

Analysis of Code Box 6.1
By now you can hopefully understand most of this code. First, we stop the ball and reset its
position. Then we reset the bats to their starting positions. Finally, we need to call the table’s
move_item() method twice to move the two rectangles that represent our bats to their
starting positions. We do not need to move the circle because the ball looks after this in its
move_next() method. Later in this chapter we will add a scoring system.

If you run main.py it should start OK with the ball in the centre of the canvas. If the ball
hits the left wall it will go back to the centre and the bats return to their start positions. The
bats are still moveable. The ball is now stuck.

Now copy and paste the code for detecting the left wall to the space in main.py waiting for
the detection of the right wall. Then see if you can adjust it so that the ball goes back to the
centre if it hits either wall. If you get stuck, look at Code Box 6.2

Code Box 6.2 main.py

# detect if ball has hit the right wall:
if(my_ball.x_posn + my_ball.width >= my_table.width - 3):
my_ball.stop_ball()
my_ball.start_position()
bat_L.start_position()
bat_R.start_position()
my_table.move_item(bat_L.rectangle, 20, 150, 35, 250)
my_table.move_item(bat_R.rectangle, 575, 150, 590, 250)

Chapter 6: The rules and scoring 94

Adding the ability to serve
It is of course no good if the ball just stops and resets itself and the game ends – so we need
to be able to serve. To do this, we must add a restart() function to main.py. Add the code
from Code Box 6.3 to your main.py file in the place indicated by the comments.

Code Box 6.3 main.py

# bind restart to spacebar
window.bind("<space>", restart_game)

The first part of the restart_game() function has been added for you. It is below the
game_flow() function. The code is shown in Code Box 6.4.The new code is added just above
the keyboard bindings:

Code Box 6.4 main.py

# add restart_game function here:
def restart_game(master):
my_ball.start_ball(x_speed=x_velocity, y_speed=0)

There are a few things to note here. Tkinter expects an extra argument in this function, so
we are required to add master. This is beyond the scope of this book but please note that it
is necessary. In the ball object’s start_ball() method, we have supplied y_speed=0 as an
argument because we do not want the ball’s default y_speed. This means the serve will now
be horizontal instead of diagonal.

Chapter 6: The rules and scoring 95

 Experiment
Save and run main.py to see how the app works so far. Click in the game
window with your mouse to gain focus and then try pressing the space bar a
few times to see how restart_game() works. You can also try changing
the value of y_speed and see what effect that has – you might prefer it.

The first serve

Now to sort out the first serve. At the moment, the game just starts before we are ready, so
we will add a new global boolean variable to store whether we are on the first serve or not.

In the space provided, near the top of main.py, add the code from Code Box 6.5. While you
are doing this, you can also add the variables to hold the scores.

Code Box 6.5 main.py

# initialise global variables
x_velocity = 10
y_velocity = 0
score_left = 0
score_right = 0
first_serve = True

Now we just need to adjust the game_flow() so that it adds an if clause and waits for the first serve.

Chapter 6: The rules and scoring 96

Add the code from Code Box 6.6. You are saving regularly aren’t you? As this function can
change our new global variables, we must declare them again inside the function.

Code Box 6.6 main.py

#### functions:
def game_flow():
global first_serve
global score_left
global score_right
# wait for first serve:
if(first_serve == True):
my_ball.stop_ball()
first_serve = False

We now know when the first serve has taken place, so we know when to
start scoring. All that is left to add is a scoreboard. CHECKLIST
Create a table
The scoreboard Add a ball
Add two bats
When we planned this game at the beginning of Chapter 3, we were
not sure where we were going to put the scoreboard. It now seems a Add the goals system
little more obvious. We could set up another scoring class but this seems Add the scoring sysem
unnecessary when almost all games have their own scoring system and
it is really part of the rules. In MyPong we score by simply adding one

Chapter 6: The rules and scoring 97

to each player’s current score each time they score a goal. Hence the scoring rules can go in
main.py.

What about displaying the score? There are many ways of doing this. One that is often used
successfully is simply to write the score on the canvas. This is what we shall do. As such, it
makes sense to improve our Table class and give it the ability to not only draw a ball and
bats on it but to be able to draw the score as well.

We are now going to initialise two more variables in the constructor. We will refer to the
players as the left player and the right player as these are the places where their bats will
be, the score on the screen will be and the control keys on the keyboard will be. First we add
variables to hold our chosen font and a canvas text widget to the constructor, where there is
a space waiting. Open table.py from the pong-score-start folder and add the code from
Code Box 6.7 where required.
table.py
Code Box 6.7
# add scoreboard:
font = ("monaco", 72)
self.scoreboard = self.canvas.create_text(300, 65, font=font, fill="darkgreen")

With the constructor finished, we need to finish off our Table class once and for all by adding
a method to draw the scores to the canvas. You can add this to the bottom of the Table class
by copying in the code from Code Box 6.8.

Chapter 6: The rules and scoring 98

Code Box 6.8 table.py
# extra tool for adding the score to the canvas:
def draw_score(self, left, right):
scores = str(right) + " " + str(left)
self.canvas.itemconfigure(self.scoreboard, text=scores)

Now that you are an experienced coder, you should find that you can understand quite a lot
here. Remember that our table object is built with a canvas ordered from the tkinter library
and as such has the canvas methods available to it. The itemconfigure() method has been
used before but now you can see how it works with text. The default values place the text at the
top of the canvas and centre it, which is ideal. We simply have to pass it a string to use for the
scoreboard. However, the itemconfigure() method expects strings not integers so we change
the integers into strings with the Python str() method and build these into one string first.

Delving Deeper
Casting and concatenating
You know that variables can keep references to text and numbers etc. These are called data-types in computer
science. The ones you are most familiar with are strings and integers, but there are several others.
In many languages you must declare what type of data a variable is referring to when it is made. This is not
necessary in Python; however, it is not possible to suddenly use an integer as a string. It must be changed by
casting.
We cast integers into strings with the str() function. Numbers that are stored as strings can be converted into
integers with the int() function.
When we join strings together to make one string, this is called concatenating, as we have done with scores.

Chapter 6: The rules and scoring 99

Final steps
table.py is complete. Now save it and re-open main.py. There is nothing much to do here
except add the scoring functionality (the rules) in three places:

• when the game is started we want to set the scores to zero

• when the ball hits the left wall we want to add one to the right player’s score
• when the ball hits the right wall we want to add one to the left player’s score.

Copy in the new code indicated in Code Box 6.9, which shows the complete code for
main.py. If all goes well you should have a fully functioning game – with a scoreboard.

Code Box 6.9 main.py

from tkinter import *

import table, ball, bat

# initialise global variables

x_velocity = 10
y_velocity = 0
score_left = 0
score_right = 0
first_serve = True

Chapter 6: The rules and scoring 100

# order a window from the tkinter window factory
window = Tk()
window.title("MyPong")

# order a table from the table factory

my_table = table.Table(window, net_colour="green", vertical_net=True)

# order a ball from the ball factory

my_ball = ball.Ball(table=my_table, x_speed=x_velocity, y_speed=y_velocity,
width=24, height=24, colour="red", x_start=288, y_start=188)

# order a left and right bat from the bat factory

bat_L = bat.Bat(table=my_table, width=15, height=100, x_posn=20, y_posn=150, colour="blue")
bat_R = bat.Bat(table=my_table, width=15, height=100, x_posn=575, y_posn=150, colour="yellow")

#### functions:
def game_flow():
global first_serve
global score_left
global score_right
# wait for first serve:
if(first_serve == True):
my_ball.stop_ball()
first_serve = False

(continues on the next page)

Chapter 6: The rules and scoring 101

# detect if ball has hit the bats:
bat_L.detect_collision(my_ball)
bat_R.detect_collision(my_ball)

# detect if the ball has hit the left wall:

if(my_ball.x_posn <= 3):
my_ball.stop_ball()
my_ball.start_position()
bat_L.start_position()
bat_R.start_position()
my_table.move_item(bat_L.rectangle, 20, 150, 35, 250)
my_table.move_item(bat_R.rectangle, 575, 150, 590, 250)
score_left = score_left + 1
if(score_left >= 10):
score_left = "W"
score_right = "L"
first_serve = True
my_table.draw_score(score_left, score_right)

# detect if the ball has hit the right wall:

if(my_ball.x_posn + my_ball.width >= my_table.width - 3):
my_ball.stop_ball()
my_ball.start_position()
bat_L.start_position()
bat_R.start_position()
my_table.move_item(bat_L.rectangle, 20, 150, 35, 250)
my_table.move_item(bat_R.rectangle, 575, 150, 590, 250)

Chapter 6: The rules and scoring 102

 score_right = score_right + 1
if(score_right >= 10):
score_right = "W"
score_left = "L"
first_serve=True
my_table.draw_score(score_left, score_right)

my_ball.move_next()
window.after(50, game_flow)

#add restart_game function here

def restart_game(master):
global score_left
global score_right
my_ball.start_ball(x_speed=x_velocity, y_speed=0)
if(score_left == "W" or score_left == "L"):
score_left = 0
score_right = 0
my_table.draw_score(score_left, score_right)

# bind the controls of the bats to keys on the keyboard

window.bind("a", bat_L.move_up)
window.bind("z", bat_L.move_down)
window.bind("<Up>", bat_R.move_up)
window.bind("<Down>", bat_R.move_down)

(continues on the next page)

Chapter 6: The rules and scoring 103

 # bind restart to the spacebar
window.bind("<space>", restart_game)

# call the game_flow loop

game_flow()

# start the tkinter loop process

window.mainloop()

Chapter summary CHECKLIST

In this chapter you have: Create a table
Add a ball
• created a goal detection system
• added a scoring system to your game and a scoreboard Add two bats
• learned that there are many ways of achieving the same result and Add the goals system
that they do not always have to involve building a new class
Add the scoring sysem
• finished MyPong!

It can be fun to work hard and learn things; however, it is also very
rewarding to finish a project. You can of course now play with your creation. Go ahead and
challenge someone! This is the best way to find out what you like and dislike about the game
design. This process has a name – game testing. The great thing is, you can now customise it
and get it to perform exactly the way you like.

Chapter 6: The rules and scoring 104

Instead of challenges, there are just some ideas that you may wish to consider when
customising your game. Congratulations on getting this far, have fun and keep coding!

Idea 1
You will probably want to speed the ball up a bit as it is set quite slow for testing purposes.
This can be done in the main.py constructor.

Idea 2
Try moving the bats nearer the middle to increase the tension.

Idea 3
Try changing the size of the bats and their colour.

Idea 4
Try adding keyboard control so the bats can move towards the net and back. You could
limit them to their side of the board, or if you enjoy mayhem – leave them as they are!

Chapter 6: The rules and scoring 105

Bonus chapter
Two more games
This chapter demonstrates the benefits of building classes well. It has taken four chapters
to build MyPong. In this chapter we will build a quick breakout game and an invaders
game – all without altering anything except main.py. Again, you can work on the start files
provided on the website.

Each book in the Coding Club series tries to supply at least one bonus project. The purpose of
these is to provide some code that does not have any explanations. It is an important skill
for coders to develop – to be able to look at other people’s code and try to work out what is
going on. Although you might not understand everything, you are sure to learn something!

In this chapter you are going to:

• see how useful lists are for storing items in games and to keep track of them

• see how to add many bricks at once using a loop

• see how flexible your Ball, Bat and Table classes are

• finish the book with two new games that can be further customised to make
them more polished.

Bonus chapter: Two more games 106

MyBreakout
The first game is a very simple game where the goal is to use a ball to clear a load of bricks
by hitting them with the ball (Figure 7.1). The player has a bat to rebound the ball and the
ball must not get past it to the bottom of the window.

It is probably time to start

using the language of professional
coders. We should say: we make
a bat instance from the Bat class
which is placed at the bottom of
our table object. We also make a
ball instance from the Ball class
and then instantiate several bricks
from the Bat class.

Figure 7.1 MyBreakout.

To build the game, we order a bat from the Bat factory and it is placed at the bottom of the
screen. We order a ball from the ball factory. Everything is placed on a table which we order
from the Table factory.

The bricks to get rid of are simply more bats from the Bat factory. We do not add any
movement or control to these. Instead, after detecting a collision we destroy them. The code
is not too difficult. It can be found in Code Box 7.1.
Bonus chapter: Two more games 107
Code Box 7.1
from tkinter import *
import table, ball, bat, random

window = Tk()
window.title("MyBreakout")
my_table = table.Table(window)

# initialise global variables

x_velocity = 4
y_velocity = 10
first_serve = True

# order a ball from the ball class

my_ball = ball.Ball(
table = my_table, x_speed=x_velocity, y_speed=y_velocity,
width=24, height=24, colour="red", x_start=288, y_start=188)

# order a bat from the bat class

bat_B = bat.Bat(table = my_table, width=100, height=10,
x_posn=250, y_posn=370, colour="blue")

# order further bats from the bat class but call them bricks
bricks = []
b=1

Bonus chapter: Two more games 108

while b < 7:
i=80
bricks.append(bat.Bat(
table = my_table, width=50, height=20,
x_posn=(b*i), y_posn=75, colour="green"))
b = b+1

#### functions:
def game_flow():
global first_serve
# wait for first serve:
if(first_serve==True):
my_ball.stop_ball()
first_serve = False

# detect if ball has hit the bat:

bat_B.detect_collision(my_ball, sides_sweet_spot=False, topnbottom_sweet_spot=True)

# detect if ball has hit the bricks:

for b in bricks:
if(b.detect_collision(my_ball, sides_sweet_spot=False) != None):
my_table.remove_item(b.rectangle)
bricks.remove(b)
if(len(bricks) == 0):
my_ball.stop_ball()
my_ball.start_position()
my_table.draw_score("", " YOU WIN!")

(continues on the next page)

Bonus chapter: Two more games 109
 # detect if ball hit the bottom wall:
if(my_ball.y_posn >= my_table.height - my_ball.height):
my_ball.stop_ball()
my_ball.start_position()
first_serve = True
my_table.draw_score("", " WHOOPS!")

my_ball.move_next()
window.after(50, game_flow)

def restart_game(master):
my_ball.start_ball(x_speed=x_velocity, y_speed=y_velocity)
my_table.draw_score("", "")

# bind the controls of the bat to keys on the keyboard

window.bind("<Left>", bat_B.move_left)
window.bind("<Right>", bat_B.move_right)

# bind restart to spacebar

window.bind("<space>", restart_game)

game_flow()
window.mainloop()

Bonus chapter: Two more games 110

MyInvaders
The second game is a little more complex and involves defeating an invading fleet of aliens
that are intent on landing on Earth (Figure 7.2). This is done by shooting them out of the
sky with a tank that can shoot missiles vertically. The tank is a bat, like in MyBreakout. The
missile is an oval shaped ball. The invaders are more bat instances, which can move this time.

Figure 7.2 MyInvaders.

There are little things to watch out for, such as that the ball is served from the tank each time
and hidden when not required. Although this is more complicated than the last game, it takes
full advantage of the classes we have built so carefully. Neither game alters them at all.

Enough about the game. Start it up and play. Then have a look at the code and have fun
hacking it. The full source code can be seen in Code Box 7.2.
Bonus chapter: Two more games 111
Code Box 7.2
from tkinter import *
import table, ball, bat, random

window = Tk()
window.title("MyInvaders")
my_table = table.Table(window)

# add background image

starry_night_image = PhotoImage(file = "stars.gif")
my_table.canvas.create_image(0, 0, anchor=NW, image = starry_night_image, tags="bg_img")

# move the image to bottom of image stack (so the scoreboard can be seen above the background)
# by moving any canvas objects tagged as "bg_img" to the back using the lower() method
my_table.canvas.lower("bg_img")

# initialise global variables

x_velocity = 0
y_velocity = -10
first_serve = True
direction = "right"

# order a missile from the ball class

my_ball = ball.Ball(
table=my_table, x_speed=x_velocity, y_speed=y_velocity,
height=15, width=8, colour="black")

Bonus chapter: Two more games 112

# order a defender from the bat class
bat_B = bat.Bat(table=my_table, width=50, height=30, x_posn=250, y_posn=350, colour="blue")

# order invaders from the bat class and start them moving to the right
invaders = []
rows=0
gap=30
colour = ("green", "orange", "yellow", "purple")
while rows < 5:
n=1
while n < 7:
i=80
invader = bat.Bat(
table=my_table, width=50, height=20, x_speed=3, y_speed=15,
x_posn=(n*i), y_posn=25+(rows*gap), colour=colour[(rows-1) %4])
invaders.append(invader)
n = n+1
rows = rows+1

#### Functions:
def game_flow():
global first_serve
global direction
game_over = False
# wait for first serve:
if(first_serve == True):
my_ball.stop_ball()
first_serve = False
(continues on the next page)
Bonus chapter: Two more games 113
# detect if missile has hit an invader:
for b in invaders:
if(b.detect_collision(my_ball, sides_sweet_spot=False) != None):
my_table.remove_item(b.rectangle)
invaders.remove(b)
hide_missile()

if(len(invaders) == 0):
my_table.remove_item(my_ball.circle)
my_table.canvas.itemconfigure(my_table.scoreboard, text="YOU WIN")

# detect if missile hit the top wall:

if(my_ball.y_posn <= 3):
hide_missile()
first_serve=True

my_ball.move_next()

# handle movement of invaders

directionChange = False;
for b in invaders:
directionChange = directionChange or move_brick_next(b, direction)
game_over = detect_game_over(b, bat_B.y_posn)
if(game_over):
my_ball.stop_ball()

Bonus chapter: Two more games 114

 for b in invaders:
b.x_speed=0
b.y_speed=0
my_table.canvas.itemconfigure(my_table.scoreboard, text="GAME OVER")
if(directionChange):
for b in invaders:
b.move_down(b)
if(direction == "right"):
direction = "left"
else:
direction = "right"
window.after(50, game_flow)

def restart_game(master):
first_serve = False
my_ball.start_ball(0,0)
my_ball.x_speed=x_velocity
my_ball.y_speed=y_velocity
my_table.change_item_colour(my_ball.circle, "red")
my_ball.x_posn = (bat_B.x_posn + bat_B.width/2)
my_ball.y_posn = bat_B.y_posn

# Moves invaders to left or right and looks to see if they should be moved down
# returns true if direction must change
def move_brick_next(brick, direction):
if(direction == "left"):
brick.move_left(brick)
(continues on the next page)
Bonus chapter: Two more games 115
 if(brick.x_posn < 10): # if the brick reaches the left wall
return True
else:
return False
else:
brick.move_right(brick)
if((brick.x_posn + brick.width) > my_table.width-10): # if the brick reaches the right wall
return True
else:
return False

# detect if invaders reach the bottom

def detect_game_over(invader, bottom):
if((invader.y_posn + invader.height) > bottom):
return True
else:
return False

# hide missile
def hide_missile():
my_ball.stop_ball()
my_ball.x_posn=0
my_ball.y_posn=my_table.height-my_ball.height
my_table.change_item_colour(my_ball.circle, "black")

Bonus chapter: Two more games 116

 # bind the controls of the bat to keys on the keyboard
window.bind("<Left>", bat_B.move_left)
window.bind("<Right>", bat_B.move_right)

# bind restart to spacebar

window.bind("<space>", restart_game)

game_flow()
window.mainloop()

Bonus chapter summary

In this chapter you have:

• seen how useful lists are to store items in games and to keep track of them
• seen how to add many bricks at once using a loop
• seen how flexible your Ball, Bat and Table classes are
• played with two new games.

Bonus chapter: Two more games 117

Here are some ideas to use with these new projects:

Idea 1
Add more bricks to MyBreakout.

Idea 2
Play around with the different ways you have learned about how to rebound the ball
from the MyBreakout bat.

Idea 3
Add vertical movement to the bat in MyBreakout.

Idea 4
In both games, there is no reason why you cannot try to make the bricks or invaders
shoot back!

Bonus chapter: Two more games 118

Idea 5
In MyInvaders make the invaders move faster as time goes on.

Idea 6 These are great. I can

think of loads of ideas
Enable multiple missile launching capability in MyInvaders. Currently you can only that really would
fire a new ball when the previous one is removed from the screen. This new idea might make these into cool
make the game too easy. games.

Idea 7
Add a ‘number of lives’ left, scoring system to either game and perhaps have new levels
instead of winning.

Idea 8
Look for other games that use balls and bats (or bricks) and try to build one, or of course,
just design your own unique game. Nobody seems to have created ‘keepy-uppy’ – this
would involve gravity and perhaps some random winds!

Bonus chapter: Two more games 119

Taking things further
When you have finished this book your adventure really begins! You might want to develop
your own projects now in Python. Should you be interested, you are now in a good position
to start a new language. You will find that all you need to do is look up the syntax used in
the new language to indicate loops or classes etc. You will find there are a lot of similarities
in, for example, PHP, Java and the C family of languages. Alternatively, you might want to
delve into some other tools and libraries that add functionality to Python. Here are some
starting points:

The Python stuff

Coding Club books
This is the first Level 3 book in the series but you may still find things to interest you in any
of the other project books at lower levels.

http://www.codingclub.co.uk

PyGame

This popular library currently works best using Python 2 rather than 3 but there is not too
much difference. The library makes extensive use of classes in its game implementation.

http://www.pygame.org/

Taking things further 120

PiFace

If you have a Raspberry Pi you may want to try your hand at physical computing. One way
of doing this is to purchase a PiFace from Manchester University which can be programmed
directly in Python. It will enable you to use your computer to control all sorts of things by
interfacing with a scalextric set or a talking chicken, for instance.

http://pi.cs.man.ac.uk/

Non-Python stuff
Arduino

This is an alternative to the PiFace for physical computing. It works with any type of
computer rather than just a Raspberry Pi. The language used is C but you will find that to
sense and control uses far less complicated code than we have been using in this book, so it
will not take you very long to get used to it.

http://www.arduino.cc

GameMaker

This has been popular in some schools for a number of years. It uses a drag-and-drop system
for building games. After a while though, this becomes limiting. At this point you can add
your own code or download others. Now you will be in a position to understand the code and
design your own.

http://www.yoyogames.com/
Taking things further 121
Greenfoot

If you really love the idea of building code in an OOP way, there is no better way of
exploring this in Java than by trying out Greenfoot. There are lots of free resources on this
site including many great video tutorials.

http://www.greenfoot.org/

Taking things further 122

Appendix
Some key bits of information
Companion website
Go to www.codingclub.co.uk for the complete source code to all the apps in this book plus
example answers for many of the puzzles, challenges and ideas found at the end of each
chapter. Also find out about the characters that feature in the books and other exciting
information about the Coding Club series. While on the website, take the time to submit your
email address to ‘keep informed’ about the latest developments as and when they happen.

Useful code examples

while loops:

while my_test == True:

# code that does things goes here

for loops:

for i in my_list:
print(i)

quick comparison function:

def is_same(guess, password):

return guess == password
# returns True if the same and False if different
Appendix 123
tkinter window template:

from tkinter import *

# order a window from the tkinter factory

window = Tk()
window.title("My Application")

# other code goes here #

# start the animation loop

window.mainloop()

class example:

# code in file called cat.py

class Cat:
# constructor:
def __init__(self, name):
self.name = name

# other methods
def speak(self):
print(self.name, " says Meow!")

def drink(self):
print(self.name, " drinks some milk.")

Appendix 124
instantiation example:

import cat
romeo = cat.Cat("Romeo")

Class planning template

Class Name

Attributes

Methods

(A printable version is available on the companion website.)

Appendix 125
Glossary and index
argument 
a piece of information that is required by a function, a method or a class
so that it can perform its task; this is usually a string or number, for example,
my_function(arguments go here). 11

attributes the properties of an object such as width, height, colour, etc. 27

boolean variable a variable that holds only two values – True or False 11

bug 
a piece of code that is causing a program to fail to run properly or at all 48

casting 
the process of converting one data-type into another; for example, sometimes
a number may be stored as text but need to be converted in to an integer; this
can be done like this: int("3") 99

classes in object-oriented programming, classes are sections of code that objects are
built from; in this book they are compared to factories although it is more
common to describe them as templates or blueprints 19

comments 
some text in a computer program that is for the human reader and is ignored
by the computer when running the program; in python all comments begin
with a hash symbol # 9

Glossary and index 126

comparative operators sometimes called logic operators, they allow us to compare data in a program;
they include == and > 14

concatenating 
the joining of two strings into one string 99

constant 
a number that does not change; it is good practice to name constants in
capitals e.g. SPEED_OF_LIGHT 10

constructor a special kind of method that is called when an instance of a class is created;
it is constructed with the Python keyword __init__; one of its purposes is to
initialise an object’s attributes 23

data-types 
different types of information stored by the computer, for example floats,
integers, strings, tuples, lists and dictionaries 99

debugging 
the process of finding bugs in a program 48

default value a value given to an argument or variable as a starting point 29

dot operator a dot is used in coding to link a method or function with its class or module
e.g. in math.random(1,6) the dot tells the computer that the random
function is found in the math module 14

equals operator the equals sign is used to assign a value to a variable in coding, for example
n=2 assigns the value 2 to the variable n 10

Glossary and index 127

factory in this book, factory is used to describe a class (in advanced object-oriented
programming the word has a different meaning) 19

function 
a reusable piece of code 10

global variable a variable that is usable anywhere in a program 63

hacking 
taking some previously written code and re-writing bits to make it do
something different 49

hard coded when an actual value is put into code instead of a variable that can
subsequently change e.g. width = 45 is hard coded whereas
width = my_width_variable is not 50

IDE 
stands for Integrated Development Environment; IDLE is an example of one;
they are special text editors with useful tools built in for programmers 8

IDLE 
stands for Integrated DeveLopment Environment; this is the IDE that comes
with a normal Python 3 install 8

index 
the number that references a value in a string, tuple or list; each item in the
container data type is indexed from 0 for the first item, 1 for the next etc. 85

infinite loop a piece of code that keeps running forever; this is usually a bad thing 63

initialise to assign a start value to a variable 27

Glossary and index 128

instance in object-oriented programming, an instance is an object created from a class 22

instantiate[d] in object-oriented programming the process of bringing into existence an

object created from a class 22

interactive mode this is when we use IDLE to try out snippets of code without saving them 8

lists 
ordered container data types that can hold values of any type and can have
elements added or removed; like tuples each element is indexed from 0 106

local variable a variable that is defined inside a function and is only usable inside that function 63

loop 
a piece of code that keeps repeating until a certain condition is met 47

method 
the name given to a function in a class 20

module 
a saved Python file whose functions can be used by another program 10

objects in object-oriented programming, objects are instances of classes – entities

created from factories e.g. lion is an object instantiated from the Cat class 18

object-oriented a system of programming where the emphasis is on building objects from

programming (OOP) classes rather than focusing on actions and logic 17

parameters 
another name for attributes 27

Glossary and index 129

return 
(1) the value a function will produce after it has been run (it is also a Python
keyword) and (2) the ‘end of line’ key on a keyboard, sometimes called the enter key  11

script mode this is when we use IDLE to help us write code that we will save in a file 8

statement 
used in this book to mean a snippet of code; strictly speaking it is a piece of
code that represents a command or action, e.g. a print statement 21

string 
text data, which can be stored in a variable 10

tkinter 
a package of classes that are often imported in to Python programs that
give methods that are useful for producing windows, drawing images and
producing animations 19

tuple 
an ordered container data type whose values are indexed from 0; its contents
cannot be changed 85

values 
information that can be stored in a variable, such as the elements in a
container data type 11

variable 
a name that refers to a place in a computer’s memory where data is stored;
more loosely, it can also be used to refer to that data  8

while loop a kind of loop that repeats code while a comparative statement returns True 13

Glossary and index 130

The Quick Quiz answers
Quick Quiz 2.1

The random module was imported in the Chapter 1 app.

Quick Quiz 3.1

The table we will get will have no net because the default settings are vertical_net=False
and horizontal_net=False. This is so that we have to choose to have a net when ordering a table.

Quick Quiz 3.2

my_table = table.Table(
window, vertical_net=True, width=600, height=400,
colour="blue", net_colour="red")

Quick Quiz 5.1

Answer A is correct. We have not ordered any bats in main.py. This comes next.

The Quick Quiz answers 131

Acknowledgements
It is a weird transformation that a would-be author goes through when trying to obtain
the support of a publisher. While trying to find a company’s support, you wonder why no
one can see the brilliance of your idea – of course it will make millions!  On obtaining the
support of a publisher you quickly see all the hard work it involves, the investment of time
and money and the number of people involved. Suddenly it is impossible not to become
eternally grateful! Special thanks go to Paraminder Dhillon, Carl Saxton and Heather Mahy
at Cambridge University Press for all their help with this book.

Special thanks must also go to Alex Bradbury for his technical advice on this edition and
his patience with my insistence that classes are better described as factories rather than
blueprints or templates.

The characters have all aged three years and new ones have joined the club. Thanks to Fran
again for the great drawings, I love the way José has turned into such a fashion conscious
teenager!

The authors and publishers acknowledge the following sources of copyright material and are
grateful for the permissions granted.

p. 7 Stephen VanHorn/Shutterstock; p. 18 by permission of McLaren

Automotive Ltd; p. 27 Nuno Andre/Shutterstock; p. 33 Andrey Burmakin/Shutterstock

The publisher has used its best endeavours to ensure that the URLs for external websites
referred to in this book are correct and active at the time of going to press. However, the
publisher has no responsibility for the websites and can make no guarantee that a site will
remain live or that the content is or will remain appropriate.
Acknowledgements 132