Python For Kids For Dummies

Brendan Scott

• Publisher: For Dummies
• Year: 2015
• ISBN:
  9781119110859
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Computer Science
• Subtopic: Programming in Python
• Index: Computer Science

The kid-friendly way to learning coding with Python

Calling all wanna-be coders! Experts point to Python as one of the best languages to start with when you're learning coding, and Python For Kids For Dummies makes it easier than ever. Packed with approachable, bite-sized projects that won't make you lose your cool, this fun and friendly guide teaches the basics of coding with Python in a language you can understand. In no time, you'll be installing Python tools, creating guessing games, building a geek speak translator, making a trivia game, constructing a Minecraft chat client, and so much more.

Whether you don't have the opportunity to take coding classes at school or in camp—or just simply prefer to learn on your own— Python For Kids For Dummies makes getting acquainted with this popular coding language fast and easy. It walks you step-by-step through basic coding projects and provides lots of hands-on tasks that give you a sweet sense of accomplishment when you complete them. What's not to love about that?

• Navigate the basics of coding with the Python language
• Create your own applications and games
• Find help from other Python users
• Expand your technology skills with Python

If you're a pre-to-early-teen looking to add coding skills to your creativity toolbox, Python For Kids For Dummies is your sure-fire weapon for getting up and running with one of the hottest programming languages around.

Week 1

Slithering into Python

This week you’re …

Getting Started with Python

Building Hello World!

PROJECT 1

Getting Started with Python

In this project, you’re introduced to Python: where it’s used and what it’s used for. I explain the two current versions of Python. This book is focused on Python 2.7 and I explain why. With my help during this chapter, you install a copy of Python 2.7 (if you don’t already have it installed) and fire it up. I also tell you how to stop once you’ve started.

This project also shows you how to get Python’s documentation, both built in to Python and online. I give you ways to search online for answers to your Python problems, just in case you’ve never searched the Internet before. You also read about the Python community, which is one place you can go for help or new ideas. All that, but no actual programming? No worries. Actual programming starts in Project 2.

TL;DR: If you’ve already installed Python, and you can start and stop it, then skip to Project 2.

Python and Why It’s Wonderful

Python is a programming language written by a person called Guido van Rossum in the 1990s. Programming languages allow you to control what a computer does and the way it does it.

Some of the things that make Python totes awesome (also known as “really helpful and lots of fun”) are:

• Python code is easy to read and understand. In fact, I think Python’s code is sublime and beautiful. (Hey, that’s just my opinion.) Its beauty means you don’t even notice the way Python makes complex things simple. This makes Python easy to learn, which makes it perfect for kids.
• Python is productive. It makes tough tasks simple. Almost any programming task is easier with Python than it is with other programming languages. Computer types call this RAD (for Rapid Application Development).
• Python is dangerous. It has a lot of power. But with great power comes great responsibility. (Remember Spider-Man?) And you’ll have to use your powers for good, not evil. (If you want to use them for evil, you have to stop reading now.)
• Python is a scripting language. The programs are fed into Python’s interpreter, which runs them directly, so there’s no compiling (which is the case for some other languages). It is faster and easier to get feedback on your Python code (finding errors, for example). Python means you complete and execute (run) your programs faster and that makes programming fun!
• Python is cross platform. Almost anyone can use it, no matter what computer operating system they have. You can run pretty much any Python program on Windows, Mac, and Linux personal computers and from large servers through to tiny computers like the Raspberry Pi. (A Pi-specific project is waiting at dummies.com/go/pythonforkids for you.) You can even run Python programs on Android and iOS tablets. I even used my Android tablet to code some of the early projects in this book.
• Python uses dynamic typing for its variables. This may not mean much to you if you’ve never done programming before. Dynamically typed variables make programming easier because they let you just start using a variable, rather than first explaining to the computer what the variable is supposed to be.
• Python gets lots of help from third-party modules. This means that a lot of other people (third parties) have written libraries. A library is a bunch of code for doing something specific. This makes your work easier because you don’t have to start from scratch every time you write a new program; sometimes you can use the libraries already written. The Minecraft project online uses a third-party library to change a Minecraft game on a Raspberry Pi.
• Python is free software. This means that the license terms for Python respect your freedom. I think this is pretty important. You can download and run Python without paying any money, and any program that you write with it is yours to use and share any way you want. It also means that the Python source code (the human-readable form of what the computer runs) is available so, when you’re feeling brave enough, you can look at how the Python developers wrote their code. (It’s written in a different programming language, though, d’oh!)

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