Learning on Game Experiments

Install Git

Tue, 21 Apr 2026 16:00:00 -0600

Use Git

Requirements

Git from Git-scm.com/downloads

Git is essential. Yes for version control, BUT mostly helps you NOT to loose all your code.

get Git from Git-scm.com downloads. Download and install.

Git IN YOUR PROJECT

In your project folder you can initialize our git repository and make an initial commit

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git init
git add .
git commit -m "initial commit"

To see the .git folder you need to view hidden items the same way we showed extentions earlier.

Add a Global User Name and email - so you dont need to specify every repository (just yet)

Use your name or company name or alias Use your email or a hidden one (online git site like github provides them for security)

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git config --global user.name "My Name"

git config --global user.email "myemail@example.com"

You also may need to learn about connecting your repository to a service like GitHub or BitBucket.

If you use VSCode you would simply try PUSH the git repository and it’ll prompt you as you go.

Make commits everytime after you make a few small changes. You can refine that process later.
Give the commit a descriptive name starting with a verb i.e. “FIX - display the correct icon”

Start using Docs to learn

Fri, 18 Aug 2023 11:00:00 -0700

Intro

Some tools and computer languages included here.

Most programming languages can just be read like you would read English. You will still trip up in places, but most of it should be human-readable.

Computer languages change, but the basics usually stay much the same. You can always use the references, lookup newer features, and view best practices as they change.

Here are a list of a few free and almost free resources

Various: EbookFoundation free-programming-books

Python

Docs and Beginners guide

https://www.python.org

You can look for a free BOOK copy of

The books should offer a free online version and perhaps a PDF download, or you could purchase it.

O’Reilly has a free trial Head First Python. I was unable to find a free version.

Csharp

I cannot guarantee how up to date these are considering we are now at C# v12

Git

If you are using a host create a empty repository and you will get instructions how to add your ’existing project’ to git and push it. You will need git for your OS installed. Links for installation are found at https://git-scm.com/downloads

Free e-books

https://ebookfoundation.github.io

Using VSCode with Python

Mon, 20 Mar 2023 11:00:00 -0700

Setting up Visual Studio Code for Python development

If on windows Install the powershell & terminal from microsoft store or the website first. The default ones on Windows 10/11 are old. You may need to set them as defaults.

Here are the steps for a fresh install

Install Python
Install Visual Studio Code
Install the Python Extension

You may need to Install older versions if you plan on using Windows 7

Install Python for your OS:

Download and install Python Use the install suggestions.

I found when installing on windows I use the following options.

Notepad as the editor, the windows command prompt, and the support for long names, and finally allow it to add the path to your environment variables.

Beginners See also https://wiki.python.org/moin/BeginnersGuide

Take a look at my Learning Guide which will point you to free resources

Install VSCode:

Download and install Visual Studio Code from the official website

Download and Install VSCodium which is the open source project Microsoft uses their website is vscodium.com

Open VSCode/VSCodium after installation

Navigate to the Extensions panel on the left-hand side in VSCode Search for the “Python” extension and install it

At this Point you should likely restart your computer to see option show up in windows explorer like run “code from here” or “run terminal from here”

Create a Python Project:

You can do also this from VSCode

Open or create a folder where you want to work on your Python project. I usually have a dev/development folder in my user folder.

Install a virtual environment ( see Virtual Environment ) if it doesn’t already exist

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mkdir projectA
cd projectA
python3.8 -m venv env

free code camp has instructions if you need detail

Create a new Python file with the .py extension

From VSCode you need to open your project folder - or using windows explorer You can add a file from the ’new file’ option on the left

Name the file game.py

Write and Run Python Code:

Start coding! Write your Python code in the newly created file. See worm series

You can run the code using the run button, the terminal, or the interactive window

Debug Your Python Code:

Set breakpoints and debug your Python code using the debugger Customize debugger settings in the launch.json file

Install Packages:

Use the integrated terminal to install Python packages using pip Remember to explore additional resources to get the most out of Python in Visual Studio Code! If you’re new to programming, consider checking out the Visual Studio Code for Education - Introduction to Python course²4. Happy coding! 🐍💻

References

Source: Conversation with Bing, 2024-04-29

(1) How to set up Visual Studio Code for Python development - The Teclado Blog

(2) Get Started Tutorial for Python in Visual Studio Code

[How to set up Python on Visual Studio Code (YouTube)] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9o4gDQvVkLU)

(4) [How To Setup Python for VSCode | Setting Up VSCode For Python Programming (YouTube)] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSmEIr3yBL0)

(5) [Setting Up VSCode For Python Programming (YouTube)] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W--_EOzdTHk)

(6) [How to set up Python in VS Code? - Stack Overflow] (https://stackoverflow.com/questions/42472265/how-to-set-up-python-in-vs-code)

(7) [Python Development in Visual Studio Code (Setup Guide)] (https://realpython.com/courses/python-development-visual-studio-code-setup-guide/)

(8) [Getting Started with Python in Visual Studio Code | Python with VSCode (YouTube)] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9U-EBG8jVk)

(9) [Python in Visual Studio tutorial Step 1, create a project] (https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/visualstudio/python/tutorial-working-with-python-in-visual-studio-step-01-create-project?view=vs-2022)

(10) [Install and configure Visual Studio Code for Python development] (https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/training/modules/python-install-vscode/)

PS: I use DuckDuckGo as my search engine starting Nov 2024

Using python

Sun, 19 Mar 2023 11:00:00 -0700

Before installing Python first check if you already have it.

Depending on your operating system, follow these steps:

Windows: Press Win + R to open the Run dialog. Type cmd and press Enter. This will open the Command Prompt. macOS: Press Cmd + Space to open Spotlight Search. Type Terminal and press Enter. This will open the Terminal application. Linux: Press Ctrl + Alt + T to open the Terminal.

For better command line tools you can install both Microsoft PowerShell (not windows powershell) and Microsoft Terminal. These two tools are updates and are better than the built in ones.

run the following in the terminal:

python –version

Windows - python, py commands should work
Linux/Mac python or python3 should work

py –version python –version python3 –version

I use python version 3.

if you didn’t get Python 3 (pref 3.8 or higher) for any you will need to download a new version. Current version as I write this is 3.12.

Installing Python

Installing Python is straightforward. Here are the steps to install Python on different operating systems:

Windows:

Visit the official Python website: Python.org.
Navigate to the Downloads section.
Choose the version of Python you want to install (e.g., Python 3.12.3).
Select the appropriate installer for your operating system (Windows).
Double-click the installer file to launch the setup wizard.
In the setup window, check the Add Python 3.8 to PATH option.
Click Install Now to begin the installation. It will take a few minutes to complete.

macOS:

Visit the official Python website: Python.org.
Navigate to the Downloads section.
Choose the version of Python you want to install (e.g., Python 3.12.3).
Download the macOS installer.
Double-click the installer file to start the installation process.
Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation.

Linux:

Most Linux distributions come with Python pre-installed. However, you can install a specific version using package managers like apt, yum, or pip.
Open a terminal and run the following command to check if Python is already installed:
- python3 –version
If not installed, use the package manager to install Python 3 (e.g., sudo apt install python3).

Remember to choose the appropriate version of Python based on your needs and system requirements. Happy coding! 🐍🚀

For more detailed instructions, you can refer to the official Python installation guides:

Dive Into Python Python Tutorial Real Python How-To Geek 1 2 3 4 5 Source: Conversation with Bing, 2024-04-29

(1) Download Python | Python.org. https://www.python.org/downloads/.

(2) How to Install and Run Python: A Beginner’s Guide - Dive Into Python. https://diveintopython.org/learn/install.

(3) Install Python on Windows, macOS, and Linux - Python Tutorial. https://www.pythontutorial.net/getting-started/install-python/.

(4) Python 3 Installation & Setup Guide – Real Python. https://realpython.com/installing-python/.

(5) How to Install Python on Windows - How-To Geek. https://www.howtogeek.com/197947/how-to-install-python-on-windows/.

(6) undefined. https://www.python.org/.

(7) Getty Images. https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/in-this-photo-illustration-a-python-logo-seen-displayed-on-news-photo/1986209604.

Do you already have python? I have used cmd on windows, you can use whatever terminal you know how to open. A shortcut on windows is to use explorer to go to the folder you want and type cmd in the bar above.

Windows - python, py commands should work Linux/Mac python or python3 should work

run the following:

python –version if the response is not python 3 or higher then i recommend you check the py command or the python3 command

py –version or python3 –version if still not you will need to download a newer version. I tend to like to get it directly from the vendor which would be Python website and look at their install instructions if you still have problems.

Once you know how to get python 3 (or newer) we can continue. NOTE from now on I’ll just refer to it as python but please use the command that works best for you.

Where do I put this code I like to have a “dev” or “source” folder under my home folder. Then I create folders under that for each of my projects. You can group by language or if you have specific work requirements then follow those.

Under the Home directory would be your source folder. Under that would be your project folder which can be anything you choose. We use my_project for this example. Under my_project we would create the venv/. In here we will create .git/ and .gitignore. If using an IDE like VSCode we would open on this folder and have the venv automatically recognized. A terminal and text editor are sufficient, though I find beginners may prefer the help like code completion etc.

Creating the venv/ folder We don’t want to clutter the python global environment, nor do we want each project to use the global versions as changes to one projects dependencies may break another. We create a project level virtual environment to give us flexibility.

python -m venv venv the first venv after the -m is the python module, the second is the folder name we chose.

we activate it in windows with

venv\Scripts\activate Linux and Mac will use

source venv/bin/activate After it is activated then install with pip will place those files safely in the virtual environment (venv).