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.