Welcome to clipbit!¶
Introduction to ClipBit¶
This is a book of programs that you can type into a computer. They do some quite cool and fun things; you can also change them to do other interesting things or make your own programs!
Typing in Programs¶
When you are typing these programs, be careful to write them exactly as they are written. This includes:
- whether you have a small letter
bor a capitalB- the punctuation marks like
+ - * / % < > & | ^ ~ = ! ( ) [ ] { } @ , : . ` ; ' " # \- the number of spaces at the start of each line - make sure your line startings line up just like they do in the printed version!
So if you have trouble running your programs, check that you have typed them exactly correctly.
ClipBit Programs¶
Secret Codes¶
You can use this program to send secret messages to a friend who also has it, and they can use it to decode the messages so they can understand them.
To get this to work, enter a message and then a number between 0 and 7905853580625
You will then receive a secret code for that message!
To decode the message, you need to put in the secret code you got out, with the same
number as you put in. If you put in a different number, you will get a different answer!
ask = raw_input
def make_map(i):
d = {}
letters = list("abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz")
for p in range(25,0,-2):
k = letters.pop(0)
i, r = divmod(i, p)
v = d[k] = letters.pop(r)
d[v] = k
V, K = v.upper(), k.upper()
d[K] = V
d[V] = K
return d
def encode(message, n):
d = make_map(n)
return ''.join(d.get(c, c) for c in message)
def main():
message = ask('Enter your message: ')
number = int(ask('Enter a number: '))
code = encode(message, number)
print('Now, you can give your friend the encoded message: %s' % code)
print('All they need to decode it, is the number you entered above')
print('And this program :)')
if __name__ == '__main__':
main()
Snake¶
This is a very simple game where you have to move a snake around on the screen If you go into the edge of the screen, you lose! If you eat one of the other blocks, you get longer...
This program requires pygame.
import pygame as p,random
I = random.randint
p.init()
d = p.display
s = d.set_mode([64]*2)
B = []
P = 0
L = 5
e = I(0,70)
Y = p.Rect(0,0,8,8)
Q = s.fill
l = lambda z:(8*(z%9),8*(z/9))
m = lambda n:Q(0,Y.move(l(n)))
S = [-1,1,0,0]
N = 1
t = 9
while 1:
Q(99)
m(e)
P = P+t
B += [P]
B = B[-L:]
map(m,B)
if P == e:
L += 1
e = I(0,70)
if P in B[:-1] or P%9 == 8 or P&256 or P>71:
break
d.flip()
p.time.wait(99)
o = N
for v in p.event.get():
if v.type == 2:
N = v.key-273
if -1 < N-2+o < 3:
t = S[::-1][N]+S[N]*9
Stars¶
This program shows what it would look like if you were in a spaceship travelling at an incredible speed through a galaxy of stars!
You can also click on a part of the screen and the stars will start coming from there.
This program requires pygame.
#!/usr/bin/env python
# License: LGPL
import random, math, pygame
from pygame.locals import *
#constants
WINSIZE = [640, 480]
WINCENTER = [320, 240]
NUMSTARS = 150
def init_star():
"creates new star values"
dir = random.randrange(100000)
velmult = random.random()*.6+.4
vel = [math.sin(dir) * velmult, math.cos(dir) * velmult]
return vel, WINCENTER[:]
def initialize_stars():
"creates a new starfield"
stars = []
for x in range(NUMSTARS):
star = init_star()
vel, pos = star
steps = random.randint(0, WINCENTER[0])
pos[0] = pos[0] + (vel[0] * steps)
pos[1] = pos[1] + (vel[1] * steps)
vel[0] = vel[0] * (steps * .09)
vel[1] = vel[1] * (steps * .09)
stars.append(star)
move_stars(stars)
return stars
def draw_stars(surface, stars, color):
"used to draw (and clear) the stars"
for vel, pos in stars:
pos = (int(pos[0]), int(pos[1]))
surface.set_at(pos, color)
def move_stars(stars):
"animate the star values"
for vel, pos in stars:
pos[0] = pos[0] + vel[0]
pos[1] = pos[1] + vel[1]
if not 0 <= pos[0] <= WINSIZE[0] or not 0 <= pos[1] <= WINSIZE[1]:
vel[:], pos[:] = init_star()
else:
vel[0] = vel[0] * 1.05
vel[1] = vel[1] * 1.05
def main():
"This is the starfield code"
#create our starfield
random.seed()
stars = initialize_stars()
clock = pygame.time.Clock()
#initialize and prepare screen
pygame.init()
screen = pygame.display.set_mode(WINSIZE)
pygame.display.set_caption('pygame Stars Example')
white = 255, 240, 200
black = 20, 20, 40
screen.fill(black)
#main game loop
done = 0
while not done:
draw_stars(screen, stars, black)
move_stars(stars)
draw_stars(screen, stars, white)
pygame.display.update()
for e in pygame.event.get():
if e.type == QUIT or (e.type == KEYUP and e.key == K_ESCAPE):
done = 1
break
elif e.type == MOUSEBUTTONDOWN and e.button == 1:
WINCENTER[:] = list(e.pos)
clock.tick(50)
# if python says run, then we should run
if __name__ == '__main__':
main()
About ClipBit¶
Children Learn Intuitive Programming By Interesting Typing
Background¶
Many programmers today started programming because as children they had access to one of the early home computers. These typically comprised of a keyboard which also contained the CPU, memory etc, and an output that connected to a TV. Significantly, they didn’t come loaded with existing programs, but you could get books and magazines with program code listings. By typing these into the computer, you could make it operate. Through the act of typing in these programs, experiencing what they did, and having to correct any mistakes, children were aware of the underlying code and began to form an intuitive understanding of what it meant.
Nowadays, many readily available electronic devices including cell phones (even the basic ones), contain processors more powerful than those computers. However the trend towards ease of use has meant that there is no exposure to code. This means that children are missing out on a potential gold mine of explorative learning.
Goal¶
The goal of this project is to provide a set of programs for children to type into a computer. Ideally this computer should be made available to them with only the ability to type in these programs. The programs should be provided ideally in a book, and they will contain minimal instructions on how to type them in, and what they do, but no traditional instruction in how computer programs work. That can be provided to them as they ask questions or struggle with things that they are trying to create themselves
Finding ClipBit¶
You can download a printable copy of the latest version from this page, or browse a public version on the web at clipbit.readthedocs.org. To contribute to the project or suggest changes, go to the github page.
Nature of programs¶
The programs should be:
- As simple to type as possible (i.e. lean towards short variable/function names)
- Fun for children to interact with
- Ideally good examples of logically structured programs
- Possible to change in small, incremental, yet interesting ways
Licensing¶
clipbit documentation is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5 South Africa License, and clipbit code (outside of the training material) is licensed under the MIT license. For more information, see the LICENSE.rst file in this directory.
License of ClipBit Documentation and Code¶
Copyright (c) 2013 David Fraser
Documentation in this file, including code directly included in it
(for example, a .rst file and the code therein) is under the
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5 South Africa License.
Code included in this project that is not inside a documentation file
(for example, a .py file) is under the MIT license, reproduced below,
unless explicitly mentioned in the title. This is usually because the
example is sourced from another project, and has been licensed there.
Such sources are listed in sources.txt.
The MIT License (MIT)¶
Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the “Software”), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED “AS IS”, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.