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Getting Started with Python and our adventure game
12 Lessons-
PreviewThe obligatory "Hello, World!" program
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StartThe structure of a Python Program
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StartAn aside: Python's basic data types
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StartWhere to put variables: scope
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StartGetting started with our adventure game
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StartAnother aside: functions
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StartImplementing a while loop to keep the program running
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StartReading from the terminal
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StartMaking decisions based on user input
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StartAn aside: Python's comparison operators
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StartPrinting help and sanitizing user input
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StartSpicing things up with colour
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Making the Game functional with Classes
9 Lessons-
StartPython Classes
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StartThe Player class
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StartThe Room class
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StartThe Game class
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StartUsing our classes, and getting started with game movement
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StartUsing a new data type, tuples, to help with room descriptions
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StartNavigating around the labyrinth
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StartAn aside: the dictionary data structure
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StartShowing items and monsters
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implementing an Inventory
13 Lessons-
StartLists, and adding a list to the Player class for inventory items
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StartGetting started with picking items up
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StartCompleting the functionality for picking items up
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StartDisplaying the current inventory
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StartAn aside: more about looping
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StartCleaning up game play by printing room descriptions only when necessary
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StartDropping items
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StartEquipping items
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StartShowing equipped items, and a challenge
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StartSolution to challenge
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StartUnequip an item
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StartImplement the "status" command, to show the player how they are doing
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StartAn aside: different ways of printing strings with variables
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Implementing a turn-based combat system
9 Lessons-
StartHow combat will work
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StartGiving the player a chance to fight or flee
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StartStarting combat: "rolling for initiative"
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StartPlayer's turn
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StartMonster's turn
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StartWarning the player when their health is low
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StartAdding XP, incrementing the number of monsters defeated, and awarding gold
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StartAdjusting the attack roll based on weapon, armor, shield, and monster type
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StartLetting a player rest to regain health
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Keeping track of player location using a map
11 Lessons-
StartWhat we are going to build in this section
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StartDefining how big our map will be, and saving that information in the Game class
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StartPrepopulating all rooms in the map
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StartKeeping track of the player's location, and limiting movement to the current map
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StartChallenge: verifying our logic when checking player movement
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StartSolution to challenge
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StartTrying out our code and updating our position on the map
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StartKeeping track of player movement
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StartImplementing a (partially functional) "map" command
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StartMaking the map function more useful
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StartFinalizing the "map" command
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Working with Python - Introductory Level
Learn to think like a computer scientist with of one of the world's most popular programming languages
Course Summary
Who Is This Course For
- This course is perfect for absolute beginners with no previous programming experience.
- It's also great if you know an existing programming language and want to become skilled in Python.
Requirements
- No programming experience required
- A Windows, Linux, or Macintosh computer
What You Will Learn
- Learn the basics of Python, one of the most popular programming languages in use today
- Learn about the difference between Object-oriented and procedural programming
- Learn best practices when writing Python code
- Learn how to create a virtual environment to isolate your program and make it easy to install
- Learn the syntax of the Python language by writing a text-based adventure game
- Learn to think like a computer scientist: making decisions, looping logic, and performing calculations
- Learn how to build a terminal-based Python program
Description
Python is one of the world's most popular programming languages, and with good reason: it is extremely flexible, easy to learn, and runs on a wide variety of devices and platforms. In fact, Python recently moved to first place in the TIOBE programming community index, which is a remarkable achievement.
This course is an introduction to Python, version 3.10. Unlike many introductory courses, we will not spend hours surveying the basics of the language; personally, I see no point in doing that, since there are already many, many free resources online that do precisely that. Instead, we'll learn the language in the way that I have long preferred: we'll actually build something.
The bulk of this course will be focused on building a simple text adventure game, where the player explores a labyrinth, encounters monsters, engages in combat, finds items, and that sort of thing. It's a bit of a throwback to the early days of computer games, but the important thing here is not the quality of the game that we'll build, but rather that we'll cover all of the things you need to get started programming in Python, including:
- Python's primitive data types: integer, float, string, and boolean
- Python's aggregate data types: tuple, set, dictionary and list
- How to make decisions in Python: if/elif/else
- How to loop in Python: for and while loops
- How to write functions
- How to import from the standard library, and third party packages
- How to structure a Python program
- How to perform mathematical operations in Python
- How to manipulate strings in Python
- How to work with classes in Python
And, as the saying goes, much more. Periodically, I'll include "aside" lectures, which focus on a particular aspect of Python in more detail, with simple code examples that are not part of the main project.
This course requires no previous programming experience.
Course Pricing
Course Curriculum
Trevor Sawler
Trevor has more than twenty years of experience in professional software development, and over 30 years of experience as a university professor. As an entrepreneur, he has worked with a broad range of clients, including Thomson Nelson, Hewlett Packard, the Royal Bank of Canada, Keybank, Sprint, and many, many others. He also has extensive management and project management experience. He has led teams of fifty developers and artists on multi-million dollar projects, and much smaller teams on much smaller projects. Trevor continues to work projects for a variety of clients every day. As a professor, he has taught in a wide variety of course areas, including Computer Science, English, Irish, and American literature, and a number of "crossover" courses that bridge the liberal arts and technological fields. He has won regional, national, and international awards for his work in the IT field, and has also won awards for his teaching and research as a University professor.
