Python for Beginners, Part 3: The Turtle Module

In this part of the Learn Python for Beginners series... We go over how to use the turtle module and learn computer programming in a fun visual way. Things like functions, variables, and more will start to make sense instantly.

See also:

• Part 1
• Part 2

Transcript

00:00 - Okay, in this video, I wanna talk about00:02the turtle.

00:04 So, "What is the turtle?" You might be asking.

00:06 Well, we're gonna find out.

00:08 Before we get into some of the more boring

00:11 or the technical stuff, which is actually really fun,

00:13 but before we get into that, I want you

00:15 to be able to visualize the code.

00:17 I want you to be able to see that what we type

00:20 and what we do, you can do something fun with it

00:23 right away, okay?

00:25 And, this is not just something for, maybe,

00:28 kids, this something that's gonna be very valuable,

00:31 I don't care how old you are, even if you're

00:33 two hundred years old because visualization

00:36 is a key tool.

00:37 So if I show you that now, I think it's gonna benefit

00:40 you in the long run, and also sometimes when you're

00:42 confused about things, you can try this thing out

00:45 that I'm gonna-- about to show you right now,

00:48 to

00:49 maybe make those examples and concepts

00:52 more concrete that you might be a little hazy about.

00:55 Without further ado, let's get started.

00:57 So, what we are gonna do is start

01:00 doing something with the turtle.

01:02 So, I want you to do "import turtle" as your first line.

01:05 Okay?

01:07 Import, this secret command here,

01:10 what it means is that some programmers

01:13 who stayed up really late at night and wrote code

01:16 and ate Ramen noodle, and that's all they did, they

01:20 spent hundreds and thousands of hours writing all this

01:22 code for you, and you just get to steal it

01:25 by typing in "import."

01:27 So basically think of it like you have

01:29 amazing powers at the tip of your fingers

01:31 by using this command "import," and you

01:33 get all those powers, okay?

01:35 Let's do

01:37 my turtle is equal to turtle dot turtle.

01:41 Okay?

01:42 And, what we're gonna do is we're gonna say

01:44 my turtle dot,

01:49 I don't know, let's do something simple

01:51 like move,

01:52 or sorry,

01:53 forward

01:54 100.

01:57 Alright, so let's see what

02:00 just

02:00 happened.

02:03 Alright, what is going on there, right?

02:05 Let's close that; let's start it again.

02:07 So, I'm gonna write this line again,

02:09 and we're gonna kinda do like a slow motion, okay?

02:11 We're just gonna play it out again.

02:13 So, I said my turtle,

02:17 right after this first line that I did, right?

02:19 My turtle showed up here, okay?

02:23 Just to make it even clearer for you guys,

02:24 I'm gonna start this thing again, and I'm just gonna write

02:27 the first line that I wrote.

02:28 So, you can see, my turtle showed up, okay?

02:31 Now, let's say I'm gonna do my turtle dot move,

02:35 or sorry, I keep saying, "move."0

2:37 Let's do forward, and let's do 100, yeah?

02:41 Let's try it; let's see what happens.

02:43 Did you just see that thing go to the right?

02:46 So, that thing went to the right.

02:49 Now, what if I wanted to move it up?

02:51 Well, what you need to do is, essentially,

02:54 it's like...

02:56 Okay, it's like this.

02:57 I want you to look at my face right now.

02:59 So if I'm the turtle, and I'm going in this direction

03:04 here, I will go like this much,

03:06 and then, in order for me to turn left, what I need

03:09 to do is first turn 90 degrees left,

03:13 like this,

03:14 and then to move forward, I just go forward, right?

03:17 Like

03:19 that.

03:20 Okay?

03:21 So we're gonna do that with our turtle.

03:23 So let's do my turtle dot left, how many degrees?

03:28 90 degrees.

03:30 'Kay?

03:31 Now, if you notice the turtle, now it's facing towards

03:34 the left, and it's looking at going up.

03:36 So we simply

03:38 do

03:39 my turtle

03:40 dot forward

03:41 100 again.

03:43 And you can see my turtle is right over here.

03:48 Now let's do some more fun stuff.

03:50 Let's say my turtle dot

03:52 right

03:53 50,

03:56 and let's say my turtle

04:00 dot forward

04:02 again 100, and you can see we're starting to make

04:05 interesting shapes now, right?

04:07 Like, what is that?

04:10 Maybe it could be a shirt, it's a ladder,

04:14 I don't know.

04:15 I don't know what that is.

04:17 But, here's what I want you to do.

04:19 I want you to create a square with the turtle, okay?

04:23 And I want you to copy whatever code that you wrote,

04:26 and I want you to paste it in the comments.

04:28 So, either if you're watching this on YouTube

04:30 or if you're watching this on my website,

04:32 on Clever Programmer, I want you to go

04:34 to "Exercise 2: The Turtle" on cleverprogrammer.com,

04:38 and I want you to literally copy whatever code

04:42 you have and paste it here, okay?

04:44 I read every single one of your comments,

04:47 and I will go through it, and I will comment on it.

04:49 And other people will get to see what you're up to as well.

04:52 Okay?

04:53 Also, on my website, I have linked you guys to a blog

04:57 that says "Read this on how to do more fun things

04:59 "with the turtle!"05:01Okay?

05:02 So if you go to this blog, it'll teach you

05:05 what more fun things you can do, okay?

05:08 So it teaches you how to create stars

05:10 and some really fun shapes, okay?

05:13 So, that is it for this video.

05:16 I will see you in the next video.