Angry Birds, Angry Physics

At the end of this week, my teacher finally gave the class instructions to complete our first python project. Unlike  in the typical lab, I have to create a fully functional program from scratch. On top of that, the final product must resemble something similar to the hit "angry birds" series of games. though it won't be nearly as involved as a true copy of angry birds, it still includes an amount of physics and graphics that need to be incorporated into the program, which should present a decent challenge. So, with my eye on the prize, I started working on the first step of the project, which was supposed to calculate the velocity of a bird given a height and trajectory. My teacher gave us an equation that showed the relationship between these three variables, but it wasn't an equation that simply returns the velocity. Realizing this, I tried to use a little algebra in order to fix this, but when I ran the program, it return an ugly negative velocity. I tried looking over it, but nothing worked.

So, as a request to my teacher, please help us!

- zk : out

Method Madness

Lab number 3 hit me like a truck. I was sure I understood all of the necessary concepts, but when I opened the .py file for the first time, all the text seemed to form a giant, incomprehensible mess. Having read the lab document beforehand to get a glimpse at what I would be doing, I knew I was going to make some sort of program that would spit a number of characters corresponding to the temperature and heat index (which I made a program for in the previous lab). The concept itself was acceptable, but the rigid  instructions included in the .py file were extremely convoluted to me, and it took me at least 30 minutes to figure out how my teacher wanted me to make the program.

Seeing that this was one of the beginning labs in the unit, I knew that my class would need a little guidance. I didn't expect the instructions to be rigid, since we weren't allowed to edit the preexisting program or use any methods not already included. Hopefully, in the future, my class will start moving towards creating programs from a more open-ended take.

- zk : out

Python, not Jeroo

With the opening of the new school semester, my computer programming class is starting to work with Python. This time around, we won't be commanding any virtual animals to do anything on the computer screen, but rather we will learn to write practical programs. It's about time. Hopefully all those hours of waiting and preparation will finally pay off and manifest itself into some accomplishments by the end of the year. We started off with some basic mathematical operators and simple commands, so it isn't that complicated right now. I'm eager to start the next labs and to see how it will come together, though.

- zk : out