create turtles with python -...

Create Turtles with PythonBY PATRICIA FOSTER / PROGRAMMING / OCTOBER 2017 ISSUE

Create turtles with Python, the programming language.

Turtles make great pets. They’re small, slow, and clean. Plus, who can

resist their cute, wrinkled faces peeping out of their shells?

Now, you can create your own pet turtle. All you need is a

programming language called Python, and an extension called

Turtle.

Instructions1. Open up your favourite web browser. Navigate to www.repl.it

Create Turtles with Python | beanz | https://www.kidscodecs.com/create-turtles-python/

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2. Type ‘Python’ in the box. Make sure you select ‘Python (with

Turtle)’. Otherwise, the code won’t work!

3. Type this code in the left-hand editor:

4. Hit the run button.

See the turtle icon that appeared in the right-hand screen? If you

1 from turtle import *23 maurice = Turtle()4 maurice.shape("turtle")5 screen = Screen()6 screen.onscreenclick(maurice.goto)


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click inside the screen, your turtle comes running over. Have fun

playing with your new buddy!

Explanationfrom turtle import *

Turtle is a Python ‘module’. Picture a module as a shop full of nifty

gadgets. These gadgets aren’t included in a programming language

by default. You have to explicitly tell the Python interpreter that you

want to ‘borrow’ these gadgets and use them in your code. Once you

do, you can do all kinds of cool things!

The purpose of Turtle is to make it easy to draw shapes and lines.

And to create adorable turtles.

maurice = Turtle()

In most programming languages, if a word starts with a capital letters

and ends with brackets then it’s invoking a constructor. A

constructor builds an object. There are predefined objects, like

number generators, and web sockets, and turtles. You can also


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create your own objects.

Here, we’re creating our pet turtle. I’ve named mine Maurice.

because he’s a sophisticated reptile. If you want to name your turtle

something else (Frankie, Tubs, Slowpoke), replace ‘maurice’ with the

name of your choice. But make sure you keep the same name

through all the code!

maurice.shape(“turtle”)

By default, Maurice is shaped like a little triangle. This code makes

the Python interpreter use a turtle icon instead. Want to check this?

Code can be confusing to read, especially when there’s a lot of it.

That’s why programmers use comments to explain pieces of their

code to other programmers. Comments are ignored by the computer

when running a program.

There’s another use for comments. The easiest way to understand a

single line of code is to ‘comment it out’. In other words, to,

‘transform the line into a comment’. It has the same effect as deleting

a line of code, except that you can still see the text. By ‘deleting’ this

line, you can then watch how the program changes.

To comment out a line, put a ‘#’ symbol in front of it. See how the

text turned green in the editor? Now hit the ‘Run’ button and see

what happens!


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screen = Screen()

This line creates the screen object. It’s where Maurice is going to

play.

screen.onscreenclick(maurice.goto)

The first part of this line — screen.onscreenclick(…) — registers a

‘screen click’ event handler. The screen now pays attention to mouse

clicks. It remembers the coordinates where the mouse click

happened. They second part — maurice.goto — tells Maurice to go to

a pair of coordinates. Together, the ‘screen click’ event handler grabs

the coordinates of the mouse click, then passes them to Maurice,

who dashes over.

More Fun Things to DoHere’s more code you can add in between lines 4 and 5.

Change the colour of your turtle’s pen:

maurice.color(“blue”)

You can choose any colour you want: green, pink, yellow, orange.

Make sure your colour is written in between quotation marks!

Change your turtle’s speed:


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maurice.speed(10)

The number inside the brackets is called the speed variable. It can be

any number between 0 and 10. 0 is a slow, plodding turtle and 10 is a

zooming, speedy one. Experiment with a couple different numbers!

Learn More

MORE ABOUT COMMENTShttps://www.kidscodecs.com/comments/

http://www.pythonforbeginners.com/comments/comments-in-

python

ABOUT OBJECTShttps://www.tutorialspoint.com/python/python_classes_objects.htm

ACTIVITIES WITH PYTHON AND TURTLEhttp://interactivepython.org/runestone/static/thinkcspy

/PythonTurtle/OurFirstTurtleProgram.html

http://openbookproject.net/thinkcs/python/english3e


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/hello_little_turtles.html

https://michael0x2a.com/blog/turtle-examples

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About the Author

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Patricia FosterPatricia Foster is a computer science student at Carleton University. Inaddition to working professionally as a software developer, she spendsher time reading and writing.


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