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

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 conjunctionwith 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.