How Tall Are You?

Introducing Functions for Alice 3

By Jenna Hayes
under the direction of Professor Susan Rodger
Duke University
July 2008
Updates made June 2014 by Yossra Hamid
 Step 1: Getting Started

In this tutorial you will be learning to use functions to ask

how tall a character is. Using this information two
characters will compare their height and give a specific
response depending on who is the tallest.

A function in Alice is basically a question about information

in your Alice world that Alice answers. You can ask how tall
or wide an object is, how far away it is from another object,
and many other questions.
 Step 1: Getting Started

Click on the Setup Scene button. Go into your Biped Class and
click on new Tortoise (). Now go back up to the All Classes, and
find the Flyers folder. Click on new penguin (), and add new
Penguin (Adult) to your world.
 Step 1: Getting Started

Using your object moving buttons, move the tortoise to the left of
your viewing screen, and move the penguin to the right of your
viewing screen. Resize so they are approximately the same size.
Rotate them so they are facing each other.
Your world should look like the picture below.
Step 2: Understanding Functions

Click on Edit Code. Click on the this.penguin object.

Then click on the Functions tab. You will see a
LONG list of functions. Scroll down and look at the
functions under size.

Each of these functions asks a question about the

penguin, and then keeps the answer so that you
can use it in your Alice world.

How wide is the penguin?

How tall is the penguin?

These functions can be very useful in Alice. What if,

for example, you want to make something move up
and stand on top of the penguin’s head? You don’t
know how exactly how tall the penguin is. But Alice
does!
 Step 3: Using the True or False Functions

We are going to add commands so that when

Some functions in Alice the Alice world starts:
are statements to which • If the penguin is taller, it will say “Hah! I’m
the answer is either true taller!”, and do a victory spin
or false, like the one on • If the tortoise is taller, he will say, “Hah! I’m
the previous page that taller!”, and do a victory spin.
says, “penguin is taller
than.” We want to know
whether the penguin is
taller than the tortoise.
It’s almost impossible to
tell just by looking at
them, because their
heights are so close
together. So we will use a
function to know for
sure.
 Step 3: True or False Continued...

Since we only want the penguin to say “Hah! I’m taller” if he is taller, we need to
use something called an If Else statement. You will find it located below your
method editor:

Drag in an If Else statement. Select true when you drop it. We will replace this later.
Step 3: True or False Continued...

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 Step 3: True or False Continued...

So let’s construct our question. Click on true in the If Else statement. Click on
Relational (Decimal Number). Click on the greater than > symbol, and pick 2.0
for the first value and 1.0 for the second value.
 Step 3: True or False Continued...

So let’s construct our question. Go to the penguin’s functions and drag

this.penguin getHeight over the 2.0 in the if else statement.

Next, go to the tortoise’s functions and drag this.tortoise getHeight over the 1.0
in the if else statement.

Now, the if else statement will ask the penguin’s height is greater than the
tortoise’s height.
 Step 3: True or False Continued...

Get a Do together from the bottom of your method editor and drag and drop it
into the If/Else right below If. Then, click on penguin in the object tree, and go
to his procedures list. Drag and drop penguin turn into the Do together. When
you drop it, select right, and then 1 . Your code will look like this.
 Step 3: True or False Continued...

Then, find penguin say, and drag it into the Do together. When the menu
pops up, click on Custom TextString, and type in “Hah! I’m taller!”.
 Step 3: True or False Continued...

Drag and drop another Do together into the If/Else, this time right under the Else.
Click on tortoise in the object tree and look at his methods list. Find tortoise turn,
and then drag and drop that into the newest Do together. When you drop it,
select right, and then 1. Next, find tortoise say and put it in the Do together. Tell
him to say “Hah! I’m taller!”
Your code will look like this.
 Step 3: True or False Continued...

It seems that the penguin is taller. To test and make sure your function is working correctly,
go to the Set Up screen and use your object buttons to resize the tortoise and make him
clearly taller than the penguin. Now, play your world again. This time, the tortoise will say
that he is taller! You can change him back to his normal size after you test this out.
 Step 4: Using Number Functions

Now we’re going to use one of the functions that is a question whose answer is a
number. We’re going to make the penguin move right up to the tortoise and give
him a hug. The only problem is, we don’t know how far to tell him to move! That’s
why we’ll use a function!
First we’ll tell the tortoise to
say something. He’s tired of
competing with the penguin
about their height, and he
wants to be friends.

Click on this.tortoise, then

click on Procedures. Find
tortoise say, and drag it under
your If Else statement.

Make him say “Let’s be

friends. Give me a hug,
penguin!”
 Step 4: Number Functions Continued...

Now we want the penguin to move right up to the guy to hug him.

Click on penguin in your object tree and then click on procedures. Find the
penguin move and drag it into your method editor under everything else. We
don’t know exactly how far yet, so just put 1 meter for now.

Play your world just to

see what it looks like.
Step 4: Number Functions Continued...

Now we’re going to use a function to tell the penguin how far
forward to move. Click on penguin in your object tree, and then
click on the functions tab. Find the function under “other” called
get distance to.

Drag that function over the 1 meter on your penguin move

forward command and drop it there. On the menu that pops up,
select tortoise.
 Step 4: Number Functions Continued...

Try playing your world. What happens? The penguin moves too far, into the body of the
tortoise. It would be nice if the penguin would stop about 0.5 meters in front of tortoise.
We can select math, followed by “-”, followed by a number. Click here to apply math.

Your code for this line will then look like this:
 Step 5: Finishing Up

The last thing you need to do is make the penguin hug the guy.

Go to classes, then penguins, and click on add Penguin procedure. Call it hug. In
this method, experiment until you find code that makes the penguin hug the guy.
My code for penguin.hug looks like this.
 Step 5: Finishing Up

Now click on the my first method tab of your method editor. Make sure you have clicked
on penguin in the object tree, and then look at the penguin’s procedures list. Find
penguin.hug, and drag it into the bottom of your method editor. Your final code will look
like this.
 Step 5: Finishing Up Continued...

Play your world, and see the plot unfold! Now you know the basics of using
functions. We only used two functions in this tutorial, but there are MANY
functions in the Alice world that can be useful. Try some more functions on your
own and explore how they work!