Getting started on learning Python with your AI Coach powered by ChatGPT

Are you curious or excited about Coding? Or maybe you have been doing block coding like Scratch, and want to take the next big step? Join our <a href="/coding-for-kids/python">Python for AI</a> class to learn the essential elements of Python coding, with a focus on the aspects of Python that are most relevant to Artificial Intelligence.
<img src="https://create-learn-prod.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/strapi-studio/python_for_ai_fb2532cc2d.jpg" alt="python-for-ai.jpg">
Our regular courses are all taught live online by experienced teachers. To get started, you can sign up for a <a href="/coding-for-kids/python#python_0">free live virtual intro</a> class with one of our awesome teachers, or start learning right away by going over this tutorial together with our AI Learning Coach. The two cover similar content.

Python for AI Intro

Python is one of the most popular programming languages used in the tech industry and is the best option for most students to start learning text-based coding languages. It is used by numerous companies including Google, Netflix, NASA, Spotify, and a lot more. Python is also used in many different applications, such as AI, game development, Data Science, and Web Development.
Check out this short YourTube video on what Python is and why it is so popular.

Today, we will learn the building blocks of drawing with Python. Here is an example of what you can create
<img src="https://create-learn-prod.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/strapi-studio/unnamed_66dde2da50.png" alt="unnamed.png">
Isn&#39;t it fun? You will be able to customize this code and sprites, to create your own unique project. Let&#39;s get started!

What's Python

Founded by a former Google Product Director and an early Uber engineer, Create &amp; Learn offers top quality live online computer science classes to K-12 students. With more than 40 courses, our curriculum was co-designed with experts from Google, Code.org, and more. and covers a rich set of topics such as coding, AI, robotics, digital design, and cloud computing.
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Check out this video to learn more about our philosophy and what our live virtual classes look like.

About Create & Learn

<h3>Knowledge point</h3>
Now, let&#39;s get started!
Go ahead and type print(2) on line 1 of the window on the right, and then click the Run ► button, as illustrated in the gif image below. You should see 2 on the right-hand side of the window.
Throughout this tutorial, you will see AI Coach at places where you might run into questions. If your code runs successfully, then click Yes to move on. Otherwise, you can click on “Get a hint” or “Show solution” to get help from the AI Coach.

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Now you have completed your first line of Python Code. Congratulations! Click the Next button to go to next page.

Your first line of python

Great job so far!
Now, let&#39;s try to print the word &quot;Hello&quot;.
Start by entering the following line of code in the coding window on the right, and click on the Run ► button to run the code.

Did it work?
It shouldn&#39;t. Instead, you should see an error message like this.

It turned out that when printing words (which are also called strings), you need to put them inside the quotation mark &quot; &quot; to print.
Change the code in the coding window to the following and run it again.

Here are some basic syntax rules for Python. Keep them in mind. For beginners, these are common places where code might have errors.

What are the issues with these 3 lines of code below? Come up with a hypothesis first and then type in the coding window to validate and see if there are error messages. You can also click on the ℹ️ sign at the end of each line to view explanations.

Basic Python Syntax

<h4>Set Background</h4>
We have put in some starter code in the coding window already. This will help us code more quickly.
Uncomment one of the lines that starts with the word &quot;background&quot; by deleting the # in front, and then click the Run ▶ button. You should now see the background that has been set. See illustration in the image below as well.

Animation Project

Now we are going to modify the code some more to change an image for the sprite
You can do so by adding the file name of your sprite to <code>character(&quot;&quot;)</code> in the code.
Here are the steps, which are also shown in the animated gif below.
<ol>
<li>Open Image library</li>
<li>Copy name of the image you want to use, e.g dolphin.png</li>
<li>Add the file name inside the character(&quot;&quot;). For instance, <code>character(&quot;dolphin.png&quot;)</code> will change the sprite to the dolphin image</li>
<li>Finally, click run button ▶ to try it out</li>
</ol>

Choose Sprite

You are making great progress! 👏👏
Now we are going to move the sprite on the screen. Similar to what you can do with Scratch coding, the simplest forms of movements are.
<ul>
<li><code>forward(steps)</code>, <code>backward(steps)</code> - move forward/backwards by steps amount</li>
<li><code>left(angle)</code> and <code>right(angle)</code> turn the sprite by angel amount</li>
</ul>

Try these four commands in your code above, run it, and see what your sprite does. After you are done, try to figure out if you can make your sprite go up by using two of these commands.

Awesome! Now here is another challenge.
Use the same four commands above and see if you can make your sprite go all the way to the right, turn, and then go all the way to the left, similar to what it is shown on the right.
Hint - you might need to try it several times to see how much you need to move or turn.

Move Sprite

Now we are ready to draw a smiley face (or whatever you would like to draw).
To start drawing is very easy, just use this command <code>pendown()</code>. Scratch has a similar block as you might recall. And similar to Scratch, to stop drawing, just type <code>penup()</code>.
Now, try it out. Draw a circle and a line. As shown below, you can use <code>circle(100)</code> to draw a circle with a radius of 100.
Hint - to draw a line, just do <code>pendown()</code> and then just move forward or backward

Draw with Sprite

We are almost there!
The picture below shows the most advanced methods we are learning today. You can draw a filled circle with <code>dot(size)</code>, set pen color and thickness (pensize), and also draw semicircles. Follow the slide below to draw a dot, and a semi-circle?

Advanced Drawing Methods

Now let&#39;s pull everything together to draw our smiley face.
As a reference, we have pasted all the methods that we learned today below. Examine the animated gif file to see how we draw the face step by step.

Hint - It is important to do this step by step. There are many different ways of doing it. The one in the gif above follows these steps.
draw circle -&gt; draw left eye -&gt; draw right eye -&gt; draw mouth -&gt; move sprite to its final location
You will also need to do a series of trial and errors to see how much you need to move and turn to get to the desired results. Give it a try to see if you can do! You can also follow the steps below to do it together with me.

Step 1 - draw circle for the face
hint - use <code>circle(radius)</code>, <code>forward(steps)</code>, and <code>left(angel)</code> or <code>right(angel)</code>

Step 2 - draw left eye
hint - use <code>dot(size)</code>, <code>forward(steps)</code>, and <code>left(angel)</code> or <code>right(angel)</code>

Step 3 - draw right eye
hint - use <code>dot(size)</code>, <code>forward(steps)</code>, and <code>left(angel)</code> or <code>right(angel)</code>

Step 4 - draw the mouth
hint - use <code>circle(radius, extent)</code>, <code>forward(steps)</code>, and <code>left(angel)</code> or <code>right(angel)</code>

Congratulations!!! 
What a great job. You not only have started learning basics of Python today, you even did a really fun project!

Complete your project

As you know by now, Python is one of the most popular programming languages. It is a favorite for top companies such as Netflix and Google, and is also used for many applications such AI/machine learning, game development, web development and so much more.
Sign up for the Full Python for AI class today and enjoy the following special discount:

The classes are taught live by experienced teachers with no more than 5 students, so you will get a lot of personal attention from the teacher. Enroll today to experience the best of Python coding classes!

Python for AI - Introduction

Getting started on learning Python with your AI Coach powered by ChatGPT

Python for AI Intro

What's Python

About Create & Learn

Your first line of python

Basic Python Syntax

Animation Project

What's Next

Python for AI Intro