Review

In the last class we learnt how to :

1. forward, left, right commands in Turtle
2. Using for _ in range(X) for looping
3. Using variables in place of numbers

Review Exercises

• Draw the following shapes

Hint! If you're stuck review material covered in the previous class! Introducing Python to students

Variables in more detail

In the last class we began using variables. These are useful for holding useful information we need in multiple places in our code or which we wish to alter!

For example, we can draw a spiral like

import turtle as tl
step = 50
angle = 90

for _ in range(16):
   tl.forward(step)
   tl.left(angle)
   step = step + 10

tl.exitonclick()

produces

So what's happening here? First we have created a variable and given it a value of 50, side = 50.

In programming we use the equals symbol to mean assignment. Everything on the right side, is stored in a variable with the name on the left. Here are some examples of valid variables :

side = 100
angle_in_degrees = 45
height_of_student = 150

Note how we use the underscore (_) character to write longer variable names. In Python it is good practice to make your variable names understandable. Don't use single letter variables unless it makes sense!

x,y = 5,10   # this is fine as x,y mean a position
i = 0  # i, short for index, is great for counting, do this.
a = 45  # this is bad! We have no idea what a is!

We can alter variables like we do in the spiral example. Here we have the line side = side + 10. The right hand side is run first. If side contains the number 50, we then add 10. The result 60 is stored as the new value of side. This is why we get a spiral!

We can do many mathematical operations in Python

• side = side - 5 will subtract 5 from side
• edge = edge / 2 will divide edge by 2
• triangle_edge = triangle_edge * 2 will double triangle_edge

Let's introduce a new method called width

pen_width = 5
tl.width(pen_width)

This will set the pen to be 5 units wide!

Exercise Set 1 Alter the above spiral code using width to match the folllowing! Match the operations used to the spirals we see!

What if? Introducing Conditionals

To make anything more complicated, we will need to introduce conditionals. These are tests we can perform. If a test is True we can run that particular bit of code! Let's consider a case where we have width of 1 if the spiral side is less than or equal to 100 otherwise 10.

In code we write this as

import turtle as tl
step = 30
angle = 90

for _ in range(16):
   if step <= 100:
      pen_width = 1
   else:
      pen_width = 10

   tl.width(pen_width)
   tl.forward(step)
   tl.left(angle)
   step = step + 10

tl.exitonclick()

This produces

The key bit of code here is

if step <= 100:
    pen_width = 1
else:
    pen_width = 10

The first line is of the form if <TEST> : where <TEST> is, in our cases so far, just inequalities. In later classes we will look at many more tests. We can see, like in the loop, we must indent our code. We have two indented blocks here. The first runs if the test is True, the second runs if the test is false.

Exercise Set 2

Question!

var = 5
var < 6

Answer! : This would be True as 5 is less than 6.

Determine if the following tests are True or False.

1. edge = 2
   edge >= -1
   

2. var = 0
   var >= -2
   

3. edge = -2
   edge < 4
   

4. edge = 7
   edge >= -5
   

5. side = 0
   side <= -4
   

6. edge = 7
   edge > 7
   

7. square_length = -1
   square_length <= 4
   

8. edge = 7
   edge <= -1
   

9. square_length = 2
   square_length < 9
   

10. var = 1
    var <= -4
    

11. var = 0
    var > 4
    

12. side = 1
    side >= -1
    

13. var = 4
    var < -2
    

14. var = 4
    var >= 4
    

15. square_length = 1
    square_length < -5
    

16. square_length = 9
    square_length <= 3
    

17. var = -2
    var <= 9
    

18. square_length = -1
    square_length > 9
    

19. var = 3
    var >= 8
    

20. edge = 1
    edge <= 4
    

17. Alter the conditional spiral code the produce the following images

Conclusion

Today we have learnt the width method, looked at more complex uses of variables and concluded with an introduction to conditionals.