Python for Teenagers: Learn to Program like a Superhero!, 2nd Edition

This book, which is designed for middle-school through college-aged students, will arm beginners with solid programming foundations they can carry throughout life. It uses fun and simple language (and programming examples) to teach the fundamentals needed to start the down path of becoming a programmer. Python is a highly flexible language, allowing developers to enter any number of technical fields and is a welcome addition to any resume. With its low learning curve, it makes a great introductory language, as new developers can take the coding fundamentals they learn in Python and apply them to any other language. The second edition builds upon the foundation of the first book, revising all the chapters where the language has changed, updating the commands, code, and examples to bring it up to date with the current version of Python. Since Python is the most popular programming language in the world and can be used in conjunction with other languages - across multiple platforms - it can increase the reader's ability to qualify for a wider range of jobs than other languages. Finally, Python is fun - something not every programming language can boast! What You Will Learn: • Install and configure Python • Grasp basic software development principles and syntax • Understand the best practices for coding in Python • Create applications and debug code Who This Book Is For: The book’s target audience is primarily middle school to college aged students looking to learn how to program computers and develop software. Older individuals and computer programmers who know other languages and want to add Python to their repertoire can also benefit from the book. Table of Contents 5 About the Author 12 About the Technical Reviewer 13 Acknowledgments 14 Introduction 15 Chapter 1: Introduction to Computer Programming and Python 20 Programming Language Overview 21 Python Overview 21 How Does Python Differ from Other Programming Languages? 22 The Benefits of Python 22 Examples of Python in the Wild 24 Your First Python Program 25 Installing Python 26 Installing Python on Windows 26 Installing Python on Other Operating Systems 35 In This Episode! 35 Chapter 2: It All Adds Up 37 Operator Precedence 38 Data Types: Know Your Enemy 41 Converting Number Data Types 45 What Are Variables? 47 Superhero Generator 3000 50 In This Episode! 54 Chapter 3: Stringing Things Along 56 Leave Your Comments at the Door 56 Block Commenting 58 Inline Commenting 59 Other Uses for Commenting 59 Texting – Without Your Phone 60 Working with Strings and Variables 62 Longer Strings 64 Strings on Multiple Lines 65 Formatting Strings 65 Introducing a New Weapon to Your Arsenal: Lists 68 Changing Lists 71 Other List Methods 73 In This Episode! 75 Chapter 4: Making Decisions 77 Making Decisions 78 Conditional Statements 79 Behold – The If Statement! 80 Boolean Logic and Comparison Operators 83 Else Statements 85 Else-If Statements 86 Logical Operators 89 Nesting – Not Just for the Birds 92 In This Episode! 95 Chapter 5: Loops and Logic 97 What Are Loops? 97 Limiting Loops 101 For Loops 103 More Fun with For Loops 107 Break, Continue, and Pass Statements 108 In This Episode! 111 Chapter 6: Using What We’ve Learned 114 Creating Your First Real Program 114 Importing Modules 115 Creating Our Variables 116 Defining Our Lists 117 Introductory Text and Accepting Input from the User 117 Creating Suspense! 118 Randomizing Superhero Names 120 A Quick Check-In 122 Randomizing the Superpowers 124 Finishing Our Program 127 The SuperheroGenerator3000 Code – Completed! 129 Chapter 7: Saving Time with Functions, Modules, and Built-Ins 135 Defining Modules 136 Built-Ins 136 Packages 140 Creating Your Own Module 141 Common Built-In Functions 144 String Functions 145 Number Functions 147 Practice Your New Functions 149 String Function Examples 150 Number Function Examples 151 In This Episode! 151 Chapter 8: Using Classes and Objects 153 What Is OOP? 153 What Are Classes (And Will I Be Graded?) 154 What Are Objects 155 Creating Our First Class 155 Creating Our First Object 156 Improving the Superhero Generator 3000! 158 Inheritance, Subclasses, and More! 166 Adding the Bells and Whistles 173 The New and Improved Superhero Generator 3000 Code! 177 In This Episode! 182 Chapter 9: Introducing Other Data Structures 184 More Data Structures 185 What Are Tuples? 186 The Tuple Functions 190 More Fun with Tuples 192 Tuple Examples 196 Working with Dictionaries 198 Dictionary Methods 200 More Fun with Dictionaries 201 Other Dictionary Methods 204 Example Dictionary Code 206 In This Episode! 207 Chapter 10: Python Files 209 Working with Files in Python 210 File Types 212 Creating a Text File in Python Code 213 Reading Files in Python 215 Using readline( ) and readlines( ) 217 A Warning About Reading and Writing to Files 218 Appending to Files 219 Working with Directories 221 Bonus Round! 225 FunWithFiles.py Code 226 WorkingWithDirectories.py 228 In This Episode! 229 Chapter 11: Python for Gaming 231 Python for Gaming 232 Types of Games You Can Code in Python 233 Pygame Introduction 233 Installing Pygame 234 Setting Up the Pygame Bare Bones for a Game 235 Adding to Our Game Skeleton 236 Adding Images and Sprites in Pygame 238 Adding Text to Our Pygame Game Window 243 Drawing Shapes in Pygame 247 Adding More Events 250 In This Episode 260 Chapter 12: Animating Games 262 Creating Animations in Pygame 262 Collision Detection: Bouncing Off the Walls 269 Collision Detection: Detecting the Window Boundaries 270 Colliding Two Objects 274 In This Episode! 280 Chapter 13: Error Handling 281 Finding Errors 282 Types of Errors 286 Syntax Errors 286 Logical Errors 287 Exceptions 289 The Try Except Else Block 291 Using Finally 292 Creating Custom Exceptions 293 Logging 295 Debugging Tools in Python 298 One Final Tip for Handling Errors 299 In This Episode! 300 Chapter 14: Python Career 302 Working with Python 304 Career Paths for Python 304 Beta Tester 305 Code Debugger/Bug Locator 305 Data Scientists 306 Software Developer/Software Engineer 306 Video Game Programmer 306 Mobile Development 307 Web Development and Web Applications 308 System Administration 308 Research, Teaching, and More 308 Common Python Interview Questions 309 Can You Tell Me Some of the Key Features of Python? 309 What Is the Difference Between a Tuple and a List 310 What Is Inheritance? 310 How Do You Generate Random Values in Python? 310 How Do You Create a List, Tuple, and Dictionary in Python? 311 What Is the Difference Between a Local Variable and a Global Variable? 311 What Are the Different Data Types Python Offers? 311 What Is a GUI? What Python Library Is Best for GUI Development? 311 How Do You Open a File in Python? 312 How Would You List the Functions of a Module? 312 Other Python Interview Questions 312 Best Programming Practices 313 Follow Style Guides 313 If It’s Broken, Fix It (Now, Not Later) 314 Documentation Is Everything 314 Use Code Repositories and Packages 315 Test Often 315 Choose a Side: Indentation or Spaces 316 Classes Are Great, But Not Everything Needs to Be One 316 The Future of Python 317 Python Terms 318 Index 322