OO Programming and Data Structures | CS 241

05 Prepare : Reading

Outcomes

At the end of this week, successful students will be able to:

  1. Show fluency in discussing event-driven programming.

  2. Write programs that correctly use event-driven programming to solve problems.

  3. Install, configure, and use programming/debugging tools in a local development environment.

Getting Set Up

This week we will begin using the Arcade library that we will use for several projects. The purpose of using a library and games for these projects is not to learn the principles of game design and programming, but rather to see how object-oriented programming can help simplify otherwise very complex projects.

Installing Python and an IDE

The first step is to install Python on your own computer and to also install a program to help you write, run, and debug Python programs. Programs that help you do these things are called, Integrated Development Environments, or IDEs.

The arcade library instructions below mention using PyCharm, and while that is not a bad choice, this semester we are going to use a different IDE called, Thonny. Whereas PyCharm is an industrial strength tool, Thonny is designed to be more simple and easy to set up and use. In fact, the Thonny installer installs Python 3 as well, so you don't have to get it separately.

To install it, go to thonny.org and download and run the installer for your platform (Windows/Mac/Linux).

Getting the Arcade Library

With Thonny, obtaining packages like the Arcade library is very easy. Open Thonny, and then click: Tools -> Manage Packages. Type "arcade" into the search box, and click search. This should bring up the Arcade Library with an "install" button you can click to install it for you.

Preparation Material

Getting familiar with the Arcade Library

Your preparation task is to become familiar with the Arcade library. Please try to get it downloaded and configured to the point where you can run one of the simple examples on the site. We will also work through this together in our team activity this week.

You can ignore their instructions about downloading and configuring PyCharm the arcade library, because you'll be using Thonny for that.

Event Driven Programming

Finally, we will also be discussing event driven programming. Please read the Wikipedia article on the topic.

Supplementary Arcade Help

In addition to the official Arcade library resources, you might find the following walk-through videos helpful. They highlight the major components of the library that we will be using. (Please note that these videos show PyCharm, rather than Thonny, but the concepts are the same.)