Python for Teenagers: Learn to Program like a Superhero! 2 Ed

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