Python Tutorial and Project

August, 2021

Introduction

This repository contains 2 components. One component is a programming project that will have a student implement a two player battleships game. The second component is a Python tutorial that will prepare someone who is new to programming with the necessary Python to complete the project.

Python Battleships Tutorial

Below is an outline of the topics in the tutorial.

• Variables and Primitive Data Types
  • Declaring Variables
  • Viewing Data Types
  • Casting
  • Constants
• Integer and String Operations
  • Integer Addition and Subtraction
  • Updating Shortcut
  • String Concatenation
• Control Flow I: Conditional Statements
  • Comparison Operators
  • Primitive Boolean Conditions
  • Building Compound Boolean Conditions
  • Negating Boolean Conditions
  • if-elif-else Statements
  • Ternary Operator (if-else shortcut)
• Control Flow II: Loops
  • While Loops
  • For Loops
  • Nested Loops
• Printing
  • Printing Multiple Data Types
  • The Newline Character (\n)
  • Printing on the Same Line
• Lists
  • Creating Lists
  • Indexing a List
  • Adding to a List
  • Two-dimensional Lists
  • The range() Function (What does for in really mean?)
• Mutability
  • Idea of a Pointer
  • Tuple, the Immutable List
  • Copying Lists and the Shallow Copy
  • What about Primitives? Are they Mutable?
• Functions
  • Why do we need functions? (Introduction to Modularity)
  • Parameters v. Arguments
  • Variables inside a Funcion (and Scope)
  • The Return Statement (How many do we need?)
  • Functions that Edit Input
  • Invoking a Function
  • Returning Multiple Items
• Reading User Input
  • The input() Function
  • String to List (split)
• Organizing Code
  • Modularity II (Libraries)
  • Importing Files
  • Constants II (in Libraries)

The tutorial materials are included battleships_tutorial/.

• battleships_tutorial.py contains Python code for the examples in battleships_tutorial.pdf.
• battleships_tutorial.pdf contains the Python tutorial for the battleships project.
• overleaf_project/ contains materials for the Overleaf project used to build battleships_tutorial.pdf.

Python Battleships Project

Below is an outline of the topics in the battleships project instructions.

• Introduction
  • Game Overview
• Provided Files
  • battleships_constants.py
  • battleships.py
  • two_player_battleships.py
• Imports in battleships.py
• Set-up Functions
  • copy_list()
  • create_board()
• Displaying a Board
  • get_display_symbol()
  • display_board()
• Arranging Ships
  • ship_at_pos()
  • place_ship()
  • filtered_print()
  • place_ships()
• Player Turns
  • next_player()
  • player_turn()
  • process_turn()
• Imports in two_player_battleships.py
• Preparing a 2 Player Game
  • init_boards_and_ships()
  • prepare_boards()
• Playing 2 Player Game
  • game_over()
  • play_game()

The project materials are included in battleships_project/.

• battleships_project.pdf contains the instructions for completing the battleships project. This frequently references battleships_tutorial/battleships_tutorial.pdf.
• overleaf_project/ contains materials for the Overleaf project used to build battleships_project.pdf.
• solution/ contains a solution to the battleships project.
• starter_kit/ contains the starter code for completing the assignment.
• tests/ contains unit tests for testing the functionality of a battleships project implementation.