Introduction
to
Programming
with
Python
–
Session
4
Notes
Nick
Cook,
School
of
Computing
Science,
Newcastle
University
Contents
1.
Challenge
6
and
battleships
..........................................................................................
1
2.
Recap
functions
............................................................................................................
1
3.
Draw
shape
function
.....................................................................................................
2
4.
Solutions
to
Section
3
exercises
....................................................................................
4
5.
For
loops
.......................................................................................................................
5
6.
Resources
......................................................................................................................
5
1. Challenge
16
and
battleships
Work
through
Challenge
16
from
Python
Programming
challenges:
Write
a
program
where
the
computer
thinks
of
a
number
between
1
and
100
(i.e.
picks
a
number
at
random).
The
program
then
asks
the
user
to
guess
what
number
it
is
thinking
of.
If
the
user
guesses
correctly,
the
program
should
say
well
done
and
say
how
many
guesses
it
took
the
user.
If
the
user
guesses
incorrectly,
it
should
say
whether
the
number
the
computer
is
thinking
of
is
higher
or
lower
than
the
user's
guess,
and
ask
the
user
to
guess
again.
Then
play
the
first
two
battleships
from
the
CS-‐Unplugged
searching
algorithms
activity
<
http://csunplugged.org/searching-‐algorithms>.
2. Recap
functions
Reusing
code,
putting
a
unit
of
work
into
a
separate
function
(or
procedure)
and
using
it
again
wherever
necessary.
Also
like
sub-‐routines,
breaking
up
a
program
into
smaller
component
parts.
Do
3.3a
from
book
(p.
19)
with
class,
save
to
file
firstfunction.py.
Function
with
more
than
one
parameter
Do
following
nsquared_plus_n
function
with
class,
save
to
file
nsquaredplusn.py
# function definition
def nsquared_plus_n(nsquared, n):
print(nsquared, '+',n,'=',nsquared + n)
# main program
counter = 0
while counter < 21:
nsquared_plus_n(counter ** 2, counter)
counter = counter + 1
©
Newcastle
University,
2013
1
Turtle
draw
a
square
function
Open
myshapes.py
from
Part
3
and
do
draw_square
function
with
class:
Delete
all
code
but
version
3,
so
left
with:
import turtle
turtle.color('green')
sidesToDraw = 4
angle = 360 / sidesToDraw
while sidesToDraw > 0:
turtle.forward(100)
turtle.right(angle)
sidesToDraw = sidesToDraw – 1
window = turtle.Screen()
window.exitonclick()
Modify
as
follows:
import turtle
# function definition
def draw_square():
sidesToDraw = 4
angle = 360 / sidesToDraw
while sidesToDraw > 0:
turtle.forward(100)
turtle.right(angle)
sidesToDraw = sidesToDraw - 1
# main program
turtle.color('green')
draw_square()
window = turtle.Screen()
window.exitonclick()
Class
exercises
• create
a
draw_triangle
function
and
draw
a
red
triangle
• create
a
draw_hexagon
function
and
draw
a
blue
hexagon
3. Draw
shape
function
The
myshapes.py
program
from
Section
2
should
be:
import turtle
# function definitions
def draw_square():
sidesToDraw = 4
angle = 360 / sidesToDraw
while (sidesToDraw > 0):
turtle.forward(100)
©
Newcastle
University,
2013
2
turtle.right(angle)
sidesToDraw = sidesToDraw – 1
def draw_triangle():
sidesToDraw = 3
angle = 360 / sidesToDraw
while (sidesToDraw > 0):
turtle.forward(100)
turtle.right(angle)
sidesToDraw = sidesToDraw - 1
def draw_hexagon():
sidesToDraw = 6
angle = 360 / sidesToDraw
while (sidesToDraw > 0):
turtle.forward(100)
turtle.right(angle)
sidesToDraw = sidesToDraw - 1
# main program
turtle.color('green')
draw_square()
turtle.color('red')
draw_triangle()
turtle.color('blue')
draw_hexagon()
window = turtle.Screen()
window.exitonclick()
Question:
what
is
the
problem
with
the
above
code?
Answer:
code
duplication
–
the
only
difference
between
draw_square,
draw_triangle
and
draw_hexagon
is
the
value
of
sidesToDraw,
which
is
fixed/hard-‐coded
in
each
function.
Together
with
class
develop
a
draw_shape
function
that
can
draw
any
equilateral
shape.
For draw_shape
version
1
(parameterised
with
sidesToDraw),
take
the
draw_hexagon
function,
rename
it
to
draw_shape,
parameterise
with
sidesToDraw,
and
delete
the
line
that
gives
sidesToDraw
the
value
6.
def draw_shape(sidesToDraw):
angle = 360 / sidesToDraw
while (sidesToDraw > 0):
turtle.forward(100)
turtle.right(angle)
sidesToDraw = sidesToDraw – 1
©
Newcastle
University,
2013
3
draw_shape
is
a
function
that
will
draw
any
regular
polygon
(equilateral
and
equiangular)
with
sides
of
length
100.
To
draw
different
shapes
just
call
the
function
with
different
values
for
the
sidesToDraw,
e.g:
# green square
turtle.color('green')
draw_shape(4)
# red triangle
turtle.color('red')
draw_shape(3)
# blue pentagon
turtle.color('blue')
draw_shape(5)
Question:
what
happens
when
the
number
of
sides
to
draw
is
less
than
3?
Question:
what
other
fixed
values
in
the
function
could
be
passed
as
parameters?
Class
exercises
• Change
the
draw_shape
function
to
print
a
message
to
say
that
sidesToDraw
is
too
small
for
a
suitable
value
of
sidesToDraw
and
only
draw
a
shape
if
sidesToDraw
is
greater
than
the
value.
• Consider
which
other
fixed
value
in
the
function
could
be
parameterised
to
allow
us
to
control
the
size
of
the
shape.
Change
the
function
accordingly.
4. Solutions
to
Section
3
exercises
Work
through
corrections
with
class.
Demonstrate
original
draw_shape
with
values
of
2,
1,
0
for
sidesToDraw
Question:
how
do
we
correct
the
function?
def draw_shape(sidesToDraw):
if sidesToDraw > 2:
angle = 360 / sidesToDraw
while sidesToDraw > 0:
turtle.forward(100)
turtle.right(angle)
sidesToDraw = sidesToDraw – 1
Question:
which
other
fixed
value
in
the
function
can
be
parameterised?
• The
length
of
the
line:
def draw_shape(lineLength, sidesToDraw):
if sidesToDraw > 2 and lineLength > 0:
angle = 360 / sidesToDraw
while sidesToDraw > 0:
turtle.forward(lineLength)
turtle.right(angle)
sidesToDraw = sidesToDraw – 1
©
Newcastle
University,
2013
4
# blue square
draw_shape(100, 4)
# red triangle
draw_shape(100, 3)
# green pentagon
draw_shape(100, 5)
Demonstrate
changing
lineLength.
Question:
what
are
the
differences
between
draw_square
and
draw_shape
functions?
Class
exercises
• Modify
myshapes.py
to
provide
functions
to
draw
a
square,
triangle
and
a
pentagon
using
the
draw_shape
function
functions.
5. For
loops
We
often
know
how
many
times
we
want
to
iterate
(as
in
the
draw
shape
example).
We
can
use
a
for
loop
for
this.
Work
through
Section
3.2b
on
p.16
of
Mark
Clarkson's
book.
On
whiteboard:
general
form
of
for
loop
for i in range([start,] stop [,step]):
# do something
Starting
with
a
value
for
variable
i
of
start,
iterate
through
the
loop
(executing
any
code
in
the
block
on
each
iteration)
until
ireaches
the
value
stop.
At
the
end
of
each
iteration,
increment
the
value
of
i
by
step.
The
default
value
for
start
is
0.
The
default
value
for
step
is
1.
Class
exercises
1. In
a
program
file,
do
3.2c
loop
challenges
on
p.16
of
Mark
Clarkson's
book.
o For
challenge
3
of
3.2c,
write
a
function
to
calculate
the
times
table
with
given
input.
2. Do
3.2f
loop
challenge
on
p.18
of
Mark
Clarkson's
book,
writing
a
function
to
calculate
the
factorial
6. Resources
• Other
material
from
Newcastle
University
Introduction
to
Python
CPD:
http://www.ncl.ac.uk/computing/outreach/resources/programming/python/intro2p
ython
• Mark
Clarkson's
Introduction
to
Python
resources
including
textbook,
workbooks,
example
code
and
GCSE
controlled
assessment:
http://www.ncl.ac.uk/computing/outreach/resources/protected/mwclarkson-‐
resources.zip
• Other
Python
resources:
http://www.ncl.ac.uk/computing/outreach/resources/programming/python/
©
Newcastle
University,
2013
5
