Coder Academy T1A3 - Terminal Application

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Introduction

This code implements a dyslexic hangman game in Python. It generates a random word from a word list and shuffles the letters. The game also includes a riddle that provides a clue for the user to the word to be guessed. The game uses a CSV file to store the words and riddles.

The game starts with displaying ASCII art of the title Dyslexic Hangman and welcomes the user to the game. The game then displays the shuffled word in the form of underscores, with each underscore representing a letter in the word, but remember; the letters are out of order.

The user is prompted to guess a letter, and if the letter is in the word, the corresponding underscores are replaced with the letter. If the letter is not in the word, the user loses a life and the hangman ASCII art is updated to reflect the lives remaining. The game ends when either the word has been successfully guessed or the user has lost all their lives. The user also has the option to exit the game at any time by entering "0".

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Links

• GitHub Repository
• Readme Documentation

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Tech Stack

• Python 3.11.0 - Programming Language
• Pytest 6.2.5 - Testing
• Windows 10 - Operating System
• PyCharm IDE - To write and test code
• Git and GitHub - Version Control & Documentation
• Trello - Project Management
• ClipChamp - Video Presentation
• YouTube - Presentation Hosting
• MS Powerpoint - Slide Deck

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Style Guide

This Terminal Application follows the PEP 8 style guide. PEP 8, also known as the Python Enhancement Proposal 8, is a set of coding standards and guidelines for writing computer programs in the Python programming language. The following is a summary of the PEP 8 style guide used in this application:

• Indentation: Use of 4 spaces per indentation level.
• Whitespace: Use of whitespace to separate elements in the code, such as operators, commas, and semicolons.
• Naming Conventions: Use of snake_case for variables, functions, and methods.
• Imports: Imports placed at the top of the file, grouped together, and sorted alphabetically.
• Strings: Use of double quotes " " for string literals.
• Comments: Inline comments used with space after the # symbol and use of : as a standard PyCharm commenting feature.
• Code Organization: Code is grouped into sections as much as possible, with each section separated by a comment line.

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Features

• Random Word Generation: A random word is selected from a pre-defined word list, hangman1_wordList. word_list, using the random.choice() method.

• Dyslexic Letter Shuffle: The selected word is converted to a list, the letters are shuffled using random. shuffle() method and then converted back to a string.

• Riddle Clue: A riddle is generated as a clue to the word to be guessed. The code uses a CSV filehangman1_clue.csvto search for the randomly generated word, and if a match is found, the corresponding riddle is displayed to the user.

• Game Play Loop: The game play loop is implemented using a while loop that continues until the user either correctly guesses the word or runs out of lives. The user is prompted to guess a letter, and the code checks if the letter is in the word. If the letter is in the word, the corresponding underscores are replaced with the letter. If the letter is not in the word, the user loses a life, and the hangman ASCII art is updated.

• End Game Condition: The while loop breaks out when either all the letters in the word have been correctly guessed, or the user runs out of lives. In the first case, the user wins, and in the second case, the user loses.

• ASCII Art: The code uses ASCII art to represent the hangman stages, which is imported from the hangman1_ascii module.

Additional Features for Future Development

The here are just some of many examples for additional features that can be added to the game in future development. I choose the following features because they will improve the users engagement during game play and make the games code more readable and maintainable.

• Graphical User Interface (GUI): using Tkinter.

• Phonics functionality that will allow the user to guess the word by spelling it out phonetically.

• Clear screen: functionality that refreshes the ASCII art after each guess.

• Save game: functionality that saves the game state to a file.

• Word Length: The game can be made more challenging by adding word length. The user can choose between short, medium, and long words. The short words will have 4 to 6 letters, the medium words will have 7 to 9 letters, and the long words will have 10 or more letters.

• Word Categories: The game can be made more challenging by adding word categories. The user can choose between different categories, such as animals, food, and sports. The code will then randomly select a word from the selected category.

• Try and Except: Code can be modified to use try and except to handle errors.

• User defined functions and / or Classes: A version of the Game made up entirely of user defined functions or Classes to improve code readability and maintainability.

• Pandas: Third party library that can be used to read the CSV file or.

• JSON file: The code can be modified to use a JSON file to store the words and riddles.

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Help Documentation

Dependencies - But not needed for Game Play:

1. Pip 21.2.4 or later
2. Pytest 6.2.5 or later

Requirements to Run the Game:

1. Python 3.8 or later (Python 3.11 used for development)
2. Windows 10 or later (+ Windows Terminal) or
3. macOS 10.15 or later (+ Terminal) or
4. Linux - Ubuntu 20.04 or later (+ Terminal)
5. PyCharm IDE (optional)
6. Visual Studio Code (optional)

Installation Instructions:

1. Ensure that you have Python3 installed on your computer. If you do not have Python3 installed, you can download it from here.
2. Download the zip file from the <> code drop-down box in the GitHub Repository and save it to a directory of your choice (e.g. Desktop).
3. Unzip the file.
4. Open Terminal or Windows Terminal and do the following:
   • cd into the directory where the file was unzipped. e.g. cd desktop\CA_T1A3_terminal-app-1-main
5. In the Terminal or Windows Terminal, type bash run_game.sh and press Enter.
6. The game will start. Go to Game Play Instructions below for instructions on how to play the game.

Game play Instructions:

1. You will be playing a Hangman game with a twist. The letters in the word are shuffled.
2. The game will randomly choose a word from a word list.
3. The game will shuffle the letters in the chosen word.
4. You have 6 lives to guess the word.
5. The game will display a riddle to help you guess the word and therefor the letters.
6. You will need to guess a letter by entering it on the key pad. If you wish to quit the game, you can enter the number 0 and press Enter.
7. If you have already guessed the letter, the game will display the message You have already guessed that letter.
8. If you entered a single letter, the game will check if the letter is in the word. If the letter is in the word, the game will replace the underscore with the letter. If the letter is not in the word, the game will remove a life.
9. If you run out of lives, you lose the game. If you correctly guess all the letters in the word, you win the game.
10. The game will display ASCII art of the Hangman at each stage as you guess the letters in the word.
11. Remember, the letters are out of order.
12. Winning the game will display the Word with the letters in correct order. Good luck!

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Algorithmic Thinking and Logic

NOTE: Algorithmic thinking and Logic is explained in terms of the following sections in the code and not according to the features listed in the Features section above, as some features overlap, and well; it just makes more sense!

• ===== Dyslexic Letter Shuffle =====
• ===== Read CSV file =====
• ===== Game Play Loop =====

Dyslexic Letter Shuffle:

The letters in the word to guess are shuffled, making it different from a traditional Hangman Game. This feature was added to make the game more challenging, but it also has a practical purpose for dyslexics.

For some people with dyslexia, spelling a word can be difficult. By shuffling the letters in the word, the game makes it more challenging for everyone, and it also simulates some of the difficulties that dyslexics face when trying to spell words. This feature makes the game both fun and educational, as it helps players understand some of the challenges that dyslexics face in their daily lives.

The code follows a straightforward logic and is structured in a way to make it easy to understand and maintain. The shuffling feature is implemented in a way that ensures that each time the game is played, a different word will be displayed to the user in a shuffled form.

Here's how the Dyslexic Letter Shuffle section works:

• Random Word Generation: A word is selected randomly from a pre-defined word list. The list of words is stored in the hangman1_wordList.word_list module. The function random.choice is used to select a word from the list.

# : hangman1_main.py -> Randomly select a word from the wordList
gen_word = random.choice(hangman1_wordList.word_list)

# : hangman1_wordList.py -> List of words to be used in the game
word_list = ['eagle', 'penguin', 'wolf']

• Word to List Conversion: The selected word is converted into a list of individual characters. This step is done to make it easier to shuffle the letters of the word.

# : Convert the randomly generated word to a list
    word_list = list(gen_word)

• Shuffling of Letters: The random.shuffle function is used to shuffle the letters in the list. This function rearranges the order of the elements in the list randomly.

# : Shuffle letters in the list
    random.shuffle(word_list)

• List to Word Conversion: The shuffled letters are then converted back to a string by using the join method. The result is stored in the variable shuffled_word.

# : Convert the shuffled letters back to a string
    shuffled_word = "".join(word_list)

• Word Length Calculation: The length of the shuffled word is calculated and stored in the variable word_length.

# : Get the length of shuffled word
    word_length = len(shuffled_word)

• Initializing the Display Word: The list display_word is initialized to store the characters to be displayed to the user. This list is initialized with a set of underscores that are equal in number to the length of the shuffled word. The underscores represent the missing letters that the user needs to guess.

display_word = []
    for _ in range(word_length):
        display_word += "_"

Read CSV file:

The Riddle feature in this Dyslexic Hangman Game adds an element of fun and engagement to the game. Instead of just guessing the word through trial and error, the player must also solve a riddle to determine the word they are trying to guess. This additional layer of challenge can make the game more engaging, as the player must use their problem-solving skills to both decipher the riddle and guess the word.

For dyslexic players, this feature can also provide a more accessible way to play the game. Rather than just focusing on spelling the word, the player can use their creativity and critical thinking skills to solve the riddle and determine the word. This can make the game a more positive and empowering experience for dyslexic players.

The logic behind Read CSV file section is to efficiently search for a word in a CSV file and retrieve the corresponding riddle. The code handles any errors that may occur during the search and provides clear messages to the user indicating the outcome of the search.

Here's how the Read CSV file section works for displaying the riddle:

• Open the CSV file: The code uses the with statement to open the file hangman1_clue.csv for reading. This ensures that the file will be properly closed after the code within the block is executed.

with open('hangman1_clue.csv', "r") as read_obj:

• Read the contents of the file: The code uses the csv.DictReader method to read the contents of the file and store it in the reader object. The contents of the file are then stored in a list called rows.

    reader = csv.DictReader(read_obj)
    rows = list(reader)

• Initialize variables: The code initializes the match_found variable to False and the riddle variable to an empty string. These variables will be used to keep track of whether a match has been found and to store the corresponding riddle.

    # : Search for word in CSV file
    match_found = False
    
    # : Initialize var to store riddle
    riddle = ""

• Search for the word: The code uses a for loop to iterate over each row in the rows list. For each row, the code checks if the word key in the row dictionary matches the gen_word variable. If a match is found, the code sets the match_found variable to True and stores the riddle corresponding to the word in the riddle variable. The loop then breaks, since there is no need to keep searching if a match has been found.

# : Iterate over each row in csv using reader object
        for row in rows:
            # : Check random word matches word in CSV file
            if row['word'] == gen_word:
                match_found = True

                # : Read from CSV file
                riddle = row['riddle']
                break

• Handle the outcome of the search: The code uses an if statement to handle the outcome of the search. If a match was found, the code displays the riddle along with a message. If a match was not found, the code displays a message indicating that a match was not found.

# : ERROR handling PASS -> display riddle if match found
        if match_found:
            print("\nHere's a riddle:", "\n")
            print(riddle)
            print("\nwhat am I?")

        # : ERROR handling FAIL -> message if match not found
        else:
            print("Match not found.")

Game Play Loop:

The Game Play Loop provides a simple and straightforward implementation of a word guess, allowing the user to guess letters and updating the display word based on the user's guesses.

The logic behind the algorithm is to provide a basic game play loop that takes a users input, checks for errors and win/lose conditions, and updates the game status. The algorithm provides a clear and readable flow of the game's logic, making it easier to understand and modify the code if needed.

Here's how the Game Play Loop section works:

• Play loop: The game play loop starts with a while loop that continues until the end of the game. The end of the game is defined by a variable "end_game", which is initially set to False.

while not end_game:

• User guess input: The code takes the user's guess as an input then converts it to a lowercase using the input() function and the lower() method.

    # : User guess input
    u_guess = input("\nGuess a letter or press 'Zero' and 'Enter' to quit game: ").lower()

• Error handling: The code checks if the user's guess has already been made by checking if the letter is in the display_word list. If the user's guess has already been made, the code prints an error message.

    # : ERROR handling -> already guessed letters
    if u_guess in display_word:
        print("You already guessed that letter")

• Exit game option: The code then checks if the user entered 0 as the input, which is used as an option to exit the game. If the input is 0, the code breaks out of the while not end_game loop and the game ends.

    # : EXIT game option -> can't use letters as a break-out condition
    if u_guess == "0":
        print("Yeah Nice! Catch ya next time")
        # end_game = True  # : Not needed
        break

• Check validity of guess: The code checks if the user's guess is a single letter using the isalpha() method and checking the length of the input using the len() function. If the user's guess isn't a single letter, the code prints out an error message. I chose the isalpha() method to check if the input consists of only alphabetical characters, since its compatible with Windows, iSO, and Linux.

 # : ERROR handling -> letters only-> 'isalpha()' Linux/iSO compatible method
        if u_guess.isalpha() and len(u_guess) == 1:

        # : Rest of the code goes here ... lines 89 - 131

        else:
            print("Invalid input. Please enter a single letter.")

• Cross-reference guess with word: If the user's guess is a single letter, the code starts a for loop to cross-reference the user's guess with the letters in the word.

        # : Cross-reference letter guess with letters in word
        for letter_position in range(word_length):

            # : Get letter position
            letter = shuffled_word[letter_position]

• Update display word: If the user's guess is in the word, the corresponding underscore in the display_word list is replaced with the letter. If not, the user loses a life.

        # : If letter in word, replace underscore with letter
            if letter == u_guess:
                display_word[letter_position] = letter

        # : Print the display_word list as a string
        print(" ".join(display_word))

• Check win/lose conditions: The code checks if there are no more underscores in the display_word list. If there are no more underscores, the user has won the game and the end_game variable is set to True. If the user loses all their lives, the end_game variable is also set to True. The code prints a message indicating to the user they have lost the game. The code prints the updated display_word list, the hangman stage, and the win/lose status.

        # : If letter not in word -> remove a life
        if u_guess not in gen_word:
            print(f"You guessed {u_guess}, that's not in the word. You lose a life")
            lives -= 1
            if lives == 0:
                end_game = True
                print("You lose!")
        
        # : While loop BREAK OUT condition -> if no more underscores in display_word list, user won game
        elif "_" not in display_word:
            end_game = True
            print(f"You win! The word was {gen_word}")

        # : Method - using 'from hangman1_ascii import stage' and calling the stages from hangman1_ascii.py
        print(stage[lives])

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