Python Wordsearch Generator

Posted on June 6, 2017 by Administrator Posted in Computer Science, Python - Advanced, Python Challenges, Solved Challenges

For this challenge we will write a Python program to randomly generate a 12 by 12 wordsearch where computing words will be randomly positioned on the grid and will appear either horizontally, vertically or diagonally.

We have started the code for you but one of our subroutine is incomplete. This is the addWord() subroutine used to position a word on the wordsearch. Your task is to complete the code to:

Decide where the word will start (random row and column)
Decide if the word will be added horizontally, vertically or diagonally
Check that the word will fit in (within the 12 by 12 grid)
Check that the word will not overlap with existing letters/words in the wordsearch

Complete the Code

Extension Task

Add two constants called ROWS and COLS both sets to 12. Make sure you declare and initialise these constants at the very beginning of your code.

Ensure that your code is using these constants throughout so that you can easily change the final size of the wordsearch by changing these two values only once at the beginning of your code.

Solution...

The solution for this challenge is available to full members!
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London Bus Timetable

Posted on June 6, 2017 by Administrator Posted in Computer Science, Python - Advanced, Python Challenges, Solved Challenges

For this challenge, we will write a Python script to extract relevant information from a bus timetable to help end-users plan their journey.

Check the following timetable to answer the questions listed below:

At what time will I reach Buckingham Palace if I take the 11:45 bus from St Paul’s Cathedral?
At what time will I reach Oxford Circus if I take the 14:44 bus from Tower Bridge?
I am planning to finish the visit of Tate Modern around 10:00? What would then be the earliest time for me to be at Covent Garden?

Python Challenge

We have started some code to load the content of the above timebale into a 2-dimensional array (list of lists in Python) called timetable.

Your task is to complete the code to:

Asks the user for the bus station they will take the bus from,
Asks the user at what time they will be at the bus station,
Asks the user where do they want to go,
Outputs the earliest time the user can reach their destination.

Solution...

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Offside Detection Algorithm

Posted on May 27, 2017 by Administrator Posted in Computer Science, Python - Advanced, Python Challenges, Solved Challenges

In a game of football, one of the most complex rule is the offside rule. One of the roles of the assistant referees is to detect when a player is offside.

A player is in an offside position if, when the ball is played by a team-mate, they are nearer to the opposition’s goal line than both the ball and the second last defender (the last defender being in most cases the goal keeper).

Note that players cannot be offside in their own half of the field.

In this challenge, we assume that the blue team has the ball and want to identify if any of the players of the blue team is in a position of off-side. We will assume that the ball is being played by a team-mate positioned behind them.

Python Challenge

In this challenge you will design an algorithm to detect if a player is offside. You will implement this algorithm in Python by completing the code provided below.

Your algorithm will need to:

Loop through all the players of the red team (away team) to find out the y coordinate of the second last defender,
Loop through all the players of the blue team (home team) to find out the y coordinate of the most forward player,
Compare both these y coordinates to decide if there is a position of offside,
Output a message on screen or draw a horizontal line to show which player is offside.

Solution...

The solution for this challenge is available to full members!
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Connect4 Challenge

Posted on May 24, 2017 by Administrator Posted in Computer Science, HTML, CSS & JavaScript, JavaScript

In this blog post you will use HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to complete this game of connect 4 for two players. (Rules of the game)

You will first need to reverse-engineer the code provided. The code so far is used to:

Display the 6×7 grid using HTML and CSS.
Add a token on the bottom row of the grid when the user clicks on a column of the grid using the selectColumn()
function in JavaScript.
Refresh the grid on the screen using the refreshGrid() function in JavaScript.

The code provided uses a variable called grid, use to store a two-dimensional array (6×7) of integer values. Within this array, a 0 represents an empty place, a 1 represents a yellow token and a 2 represents a red token.

Your Task

Your task consists of:

Amend the selectColumn() function in JavaScript in order to:
- Check if the column is not already full and if it is ask the user to chose another column.
- Place the token on top of any existing token in the selected column.
- Check if after placing the token the game continues or if the player has aligned 4 tokens. (Current player wins!)
- Check if the grid is full (Game ends on a draw!)
Add code to the resetGrid() JavaScript function to start a new game with an empty grid.

HTML, CSS and JavaScript Code

See the Pen Connect4 Challenge by 101 Computing (@101Computing) on CodePen.

Tagged with: array, CSS, Function, HTML, JavaScript, subroutine

Water Polo Challenge

Posted on May 22, 2017 by Administrator Posted in Computer Science, Python - Beginner, Python Challenges

In this challenge you are going to use Python code to score a goal in a game of Water Polo.

To do so you will use the code given below. You will pass the ball from one player to another using a subroutine called throwBall(). This subroutine takes two parameters as follows:

angle: an integer value between 0 and 360 degrees to represent the direction of the throw. (e.g 0° would throw the ball to the right, 90° straight ahead and 180° to the left).
power: an integer value between 0 and 200 representing how far you can throw the ball.

This diagram will help you identify your angles when throwing the ball:

In this challenge you have the red team. Make sure than, when passing the ball or trying to score a goal (in the goal at the top), you do not throw the ball over a white player who would then intercept it. Also make sure that each throw either reach a team member (red team) or the top goal.

Complete the code to score a goal

Tagged with: Coordinates, Procedure, subroutine

Logic Gates & Truth Tables

Posted on May 22, 2017 by Administrator Posted in A Level Concepts, A Level Quiz, Computer Hardware, Computer Science, Computing Concepts, GCSE Concepts, GCSE Quiz, Physical Computing

Learning Objectives

In this post you will predict the output of logic gates circuits by completing truth tables. First you need to learn the basic truth tables for the following logic gates:

AND Gate
OR Gate
XOR Gate
NOT Gate

First you will need to learn the shapes/symbols used to draw the four main logic gates:

Logic Gate	Truth Table

Your Task

Your task is to complete the truth tables for the following diagrams. You can click on the Truth Tables to change the values in the X column.

Tagged with: Binary, logic gate, truth table

Football Formation

Posted on May 18, 2017 by Administrator Posted in Computer Science, Python - Beginner, Python Challenges

The purpose of this challenge is to understand how subroutines (functions/procedures) are used in Python to create sections of code that can be called/reused many times within a program. Subroutines mean that a section of code can be identified using a name (identifier). This enables us to add more instructions to the already existing functions used in Python such as print or input.

To create a new subroutine in Python we have to declare it first using the keyword def in Python.

e.g.:

def drawPlayer():

The code for the subroutine is then indented to the right.

A subroutine can also take parameters. In our case, our drawPlayer() subroutine will take four parameters:

color: (string value) The color name such as “red” or hexadecimal code such as “#FF0000”.
x: (integer value) The x coordinate of the player between -140 to 140,
y: (integer value) The y coordinate of the player between -195 to 195,
label: (string value) The text (name of player or position) to display.

X and Y coordinates? Quadrant?

Check the above picture. Can you state three facts about X and Y coordinates and about quadrants?

The canvas we are drawing on (using Python Turtle) is 400 pixels wide by 400 pixels high.
Look at the canvas below to understand how (x,y) coordinates work:

So to define this function we will now be using the following code with the 4 parameters:

def drawPlayer(color,x,y,label):

We will then be able to position our players by calling the drawPlayer() subroutine as follows:

drawPlayer("red",60,120,"Goal Keeper")

Your task consists of adding all 11 players to your formation using the code provided below. We have already started the formation for you by adding the goal keeper and the two centre-back players.

Your formation should include 11 players including:

1 goal keeper,
2 to 4 fullback players,
2 to 4 midfield players,
2 to 4 forward players.

Extension Task #1

Add a parameter to the drawPlayer() subroutine to take the squad number of the player.

Change the content of the subroutine to display the squad number on the circle for the player. The output of your program should look like this:

Extension Task #2

During a football games, players can be issued a yellow card or a red card.

Add two parameters to your subroutine to specify if a player has been given a yellow or red card.

Change the text color of the player name or position to:

Yellow for players who have received a yellow card,
Red for players who have received a red card,
Grey (#CCCCCC) for all other players.

Tagged with: Coordinates, Function, Parameter, Procedure, Python Turtle, subroutine

Acute, Obtuse and Reflex Angles

Posted on May 9, 2017 by Administrator Posted in Computer Science, Python - Beginner, Python Challenges, Solved Challenges

Angles are often used in Computer Science especially when creating 2D or 3D user interfaces. Angle measurements are given in either radians or degrees. In this blog post we will use degrees. As the angle increase, the name of the angle changes as explained in the pictures and in the table below:

Type of Angle	Description
Acute Angle	an angle that is less than 90°
Right Angle	an angle that is 90° exactly
Obtuse Angle	an angle that is greater than 90° but less than 180°
Straight Angle	an angle that is 180° exactly
Reflex Angle	an angle that is greater than 180°

Challenge #1

Write a Python script that will ask the user to enter an angle between 0° and 360°.

The program should find out and output the type of angle (Acute, Right, Obtuse, Straight or Reflex) using the table of values provided above.

Video Tutorial

Test Plan

Once your code is done, complete the following tests to check that your code is working as it should:

Test #	Input Values	Expected Output	Actual Output
#1	Angle: 30	Acute angle
#2	Angle: 90	Right angle
#3	Angle: 105	Obtuse angle
#4	Angle: 180	Straight angle
#5	Angle: 210	Reflex angle
#6	Angle: 420	Please try again with an angle value between 0 and 360 degrees.

Challenge #2: Quiz

Write a Python script that will generate a random angle between 0° and 360°. The program should ask the user to give the name of the angle. If the user gets it right they should score 1 point.

The program should repeat this process ten times and output a final score out of ten.

To complete these two challenges you will need to use some selection statements (IF,ELIF,ELSE statements) as well as some comparison operators and Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT).

The main comparison operators are:

Comparison Operator	Meaning	Example
==	is equal to	4==4
!=	is different from	4!=7
<	is lower than	3<5
>	is greater than	9>2
<=	is lower or equal to	3<=5 5<=5
>=	is greater or equal to	9>=2 5>=5

Solution...

The solution for this challenge is available to full members!
Find out how to become a member:
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Tagged with: Python Challenge, Selection

Variables Terminology

Posted on May 9, 2017 by Administrator Posted in A Level Concepts, Computer Science, Computing Concepts, GCSE Concepts

Variables are used in nearly every single computer program. They are an essential concept and can be used and manipulated using many different techniques. The following spider diagram summarises the key computing concepts linked to the use of variables in procedural programming:

Terminology:

Variables vs. Constants

Variables are used to store a value that can be changed within the program (as opposed to constants which remain the same throughout the program).

Identifier

Identifier: the name given to a variable: e.g. score, numberOfLives.

Data Types

Data Type: A variable has a data type such as:

Integer
Real/Float
Boolean
String

Declaring a variable

Declare: Some programming languages require variables to be declared first before they can be used. When declaring a variable you give it an identifier (and a data type for some languages) e.g.

int score

Depending on where in your code you declare a variable will have an impact on its scope.

Scope of a variable

Scope of a variable: the extent of a program in which the variable is visible/accessible.

A variable which is declared within a subprogram (e.g. procedure or function) is only available within this subprogram. It is a local variable.

A variable which is declared outside any subprograms becomes accessible to code written anywhere in the program. It is a global variable.

Initialising a variable

Initialise: To give/assign a variable its first value which can be changed later on in the program. e.g.

score = 0

Assigning a value

Assign: To give or change the value of a variable, using the assignment operator (=) e.g.
numberOfLives = 3

Casting

Casting: to convert/change the data type of a variable

e.g. in Python using functions such as int(), str(), float().

Incrementing

Increment: To increase the value a variable by a value (e.g. 1). e.g.:

score += 1

Decrementing

Decrement: To decrease the value a variable by a value (e.g. 1) e.g.

timer -= 1

List and Arrays

List and arrays:

Some more complex data structures such as lists and arrays enable you to store multiple values in a single variable.

e.g.

daysOfTheWeek=[“Monday”,”Tuesday”,“Wednesday”,”Thursday”,”Friday”]

Parameter passing

Passing parameters by value or by address/reference: You can pass a variable or its value to a subroutine (function or procedure). This is done either by value (in this case the value of the variable will not change outside the subroutine) or by address/reference (in this case the subroutine may change the value of the variable).

Tagged with: Variable

Weather Statistics Challenge

Posted on May 5, 2017 by Administrator Posted in Computer Science, Python - Intermediate, Python Challenges, Solved Challenges

Weather Data for Quebec City, Canada

For this challenge we will use a two-dimensional array (in Python a list of lists) to store the average temperature (in Celsius degrees) and the rainfall (in mm) for each of the twelve months of the year for Quebec City, Canada.

We will populate our array called quebec with the following data:

Source: https://en.climate-data.org/location/663/

The aim of this challenge is to use a Python script to scan through all this data to calculate and display:

The average temperature throughout the year,
The hottest month of the year,
The total amount of rainfall throughout the year,
The average rainfall throughout the year,
The coldest month of the year,
The difference in rainfall between the wettest and the driest month of the year,
The average temperature during the wettest month of the year,
The average temperature during the driest month of the year,
The average Temperature during the three winter months, December, January, February.

The data provided above can also be represented using an “Average Temperature and Rainfall Chart”. You can use this chart to compare and check the outcomes of your Python script with the information provided on this chart.

Python Code

We have started the code for you. Analyse this code and reuse similar algorithms to complete this challenge.

Solution...

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Complete the Code

Extension Task

Solution...

Python Challenge

Solution...

Python Challenge

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Your Task

HTML, CSS and JavaScript Code

Complete the code to score a goal

Learning Objectives

Your Task

X and Y coordinates? Quadrant?

Extension Task #1

Extension Task #2

Challenge #1

Video Tutorial

Test Plan

Challenge #2: Quiz

Solution...

Terminology:

Weather Data for Quebec City, Canada

Python Code

Solution...

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