In this article we will attempt to teach you to become a "programmer", not a "Python programmer". This article will be looking at the ideas behind the code, instead of the code itself.
Step 1
Download Python from python.org.
Step 2
Download Pygame from pygame.org.
Step 3
Install both Python and Pygame in the same order as they were mentioned.
Step 4
Open up IDLE (say it like a car idles)
Step 5
Go to File>New Window.
Step 6
In the new window type this, feel free to add any "blank:" fields.
Step 7
"""[Your Title].py.
Step 8
Author: [your name]
Step 9
Description: [Description Here]
Step 10
"""
Step 11
(Note: There is no blank line in between the first line and the "Author" line)
Step 12
In order to save time loading Python only loads Pygame when it is told to load Pygame. This is standard to most programming languages. So our next step is to import Pygame.
Step 13
import pygame.
Step 14
Our next step is to initialize Pygame. It take Pygame and loads it into memory for you to reference in your program. It's almost like a contractor who brings all his materials to the building site, and then builds the house (only in this case, you don't have an option). The () marks and the end of the code "pass" information to Pygame, this will come up a lot so don't leave it out. Think of the passing like telling a contractor to bring materials, but not telling him what materials to bring. You don't have to put anything in the () here, but you will in the future.
Step 15
pygame.init()
Step 16
For our first example we will just display a colored screen, this is where it gets technical, so if you lose me, just reread the section.
Step 17
This is the code for what we will be doing.
Step 18
""" helloWorld.py.
Step 19
Author: Dan Grahn.
Step 20
Description: My Hello World program.
Step 21
"""
Step 22
import pygame.
Step 23
pygame.init()
Step 24
screen = pygame.display.set_mode((640,480))
Step 25
pygame.display.set_caption("Hello, world!")
Step 26
background = pygame.Surface(screen.get_size())
Step 27
background = background.convert()
Step 28
background.fill((44,255,44))
Step 29
clock = pygame.time.Clock()
Step 30
keepGoing = True.
Step 31
while keepGoing:
Step 32
clock.tick(30)
Step 33
for event in pygame.event.get():
Step 34
if event.type == pygame.QUIT:
Step 35
keepGoing = False.
Step 36
screen.blit(background, (0,0))
Step 37
pygame.display.flip()
Step 38
If you want to, you can paste this into IDLE and save it on your computer. Then double-clicking on the file will run the program.
Step 39
This is where we define what the screen is going to look like. In most cases you want the screen to be 640x480, which is just about the right size. In this code we are saying that we want the "variable" (something that can contain information) to "get" (not equals, but gets) pygame.display.set_mode((640,480)).
Step 40
The "pygame" part says that we are referencing "pygame" which we importer earlier. The ".display" part says that we are referencing withing pygame "display". Also, the ".set_mode" says that we now want to set the screen size and mode. Remember the concept of "passing"? If you don't read step 8. In this set of () we are passing pygame the resolution (the same as the size for now) of the screen. Specifically we are telling it to set the resolution to (640,480). Now you may be asking why there is another set of () inside of the ones we already had. The reason is that instead of passing pygame two numbers we are passing it a "tuple" (essentially a list, but not the same) containing two numbers. In fact, all the () that we have seen so far are "tuples" I just haven't told you so.
Step 41
screen = pygame.display.set_mode((640,480))
Step 42
pygame.display.set_caption("Hello, world!")
Step 43
background = pygame.Surface(screen.get_size())
Step 44
background = background.convert()
Step 45
background.fill((44,255,44))
Step 46
clock = pygame.time.Clock()
Step 47
keepGoing = True.
Step 48
while keepGoing:
Step 49
clock.tick(30)
Step 50
for event in pygame.event.get():
Step 51
if event.type == pygame.QUIT:
Step 52
keepGoing = False.
Step 53
screen.blit(background, (0,0))
Step 54
pygame.display.flip()
