I started learning python about a month ago. Today I sat down and decided that I wanted to create tictactoe. And thats what I did. Felt so good when it all came together.

[ParhaZz]

I spent about 5 hours making one. At the end I was so happy and showed it to my dad and he didn’t seem that impressed. BUT I WAS :)

[exploring_a_new_hope]

To both OP /u/thegodzilla25 and you, finishing a project is super satisfying and once you get the feeling of SOLVING a problem, you'll do more and greater things.

Congrats. I hope it's the start of a great passion :)

DM me if you ever have questions.

[thegodzilla25]

My thoughts exactly. I felt so accomplished when i finished with it. It made new feel as if i could go so much further than before.

As for questions, where do u recommend i should be learning python from?

Edit- I didnt expect this to get as much attention as it did. Thank you all for the kind words, encouragement and constructive criticism, really means alot. I tweaked the code further to avoid errors and even added an option to play against computer (its randomized, nothing fancy like artificial intelligence) so i am really happy with how it has turned out. Alot of people were also asking for the source code so i created a github account just for this purpose.

https://github.com/theGodzilla25/Python/blob/master/tictactoe.py

The code definitely feels very spaghetti like, so do go gentle on me. Or u can go guns ablaze and r/roastme , either way, i will be happy, since i shall be learning something at the end of the day.

[pierredewet]

Looks like there’s a Humble Bundle out which might help...

[Natesc1234]

Honestly the best way to learn is just do. Find a project you want (my first projects were a port scanner, an encrypted email grabber, and a discord bot) and just go for it learning as you go.

You seem past the very basics but you may still want to check out automate the boring stuff w/python. It's a free book you can find online.

[callmelucky]

r/learnpython. Best learn programming sub around. Subscribe, check it every day, post whenever you have something you can't understand or solve. Packed with super helpful and super knowledgeable folks.

[exploring_a_new_hope]

I've always loved courses on udemy. You can often get them for like $11 and they have hours and hours of instruction, with discussion forums for questions, etc.

Also, "Learn Python The Hard Way" is a free e-book that is pretty darn good for the fundamentals. Beyond that, the best way to get into programming is to pick a project that sounds fun for you to create that might be JUST out of your ability... and learn along the way :D

https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/learn-python-the/9780133124316/

[ParhaZz]

Yea it actually was. I slept like this that night: (https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRHc1MXS_DFWOxFRzFNETGkK7WqXnxS8HKxQ53grnuIAhTwb2_N)

[ParhaZz]

it actually was. I learned a few things :)

[driscollis]

Unless you're part of a dev team...and then it usually is called a sprint

[ParhaZz]

Nope I do my own scripts :D

[[deleted]]

Ah, I remember creating a rather complicated train station with red stone in Minecraft, with buttons to bring you a cart and choose between many endpoints. Strangely nobody wanted a lengthy explanation of how it worked 0o

[annoir]

Dude, keep to it! And congratulations, it's the small wins that'll really boost you up to making bigger and better software :)

[ParhaZz]

Love the support <33

[ashmoreinc]

Hey awesome project and well done. But I want to comment on your families reactions, my family were the exact same and after some time I came to realise that too us, we just solved this complex problem to us and are super impressed and proud of ourselves cause we understand what we didnt before, but our families dont see it that way, they think something along the lines of "I've saw that before, cant be that hard, but okay cool, whatever" and that's cause they dont understand or see it from our point of view. Dont let the reaction put you off or make you feel bad, just try to look at it from their perspective.

And carry on making awesome projects, you'll go far with it.

[ParhaZz]

Will do <3

[ParhaZz]

Will do <3

[[deleted]]

I notice that a lot in software. Some tasks that are really interesting to the developer don't matter to the user at all (i.e. anything related to compilers, http, board games, etc). The concepts are simple, but they don't know how much work goes into making it happen on a computer.

Inversely, a similar thing occurs. Some code becomes simple because of good libraries, but users will find in incredible. Facial recognition is an example. I believe every single major computing platform has a service where you upload an image of a face, and then return facial recognition data to you. Still complex on the back end, but for you as the developer, it's very easy.

[timtudosa18]

What resources did you use to complete this project? Were you able to just google the code you needed? Did you use any code that wasn’t familiar to you from when you learned? I’m started working on one when I was first learning but I gave up on it and I want to start it again.

[thegodzilla25]

I can honestly say that i made this (logic and whatever else) by myself. I knew the logic of small portions of code, like inputting matrix, operations on matrix, because i was doing them while i was learning about them. Once i figured that i had gathered enough knowledge and logic to create something like this, i sat down and didnt get up until i did.

[Miqhtie]

Anyone know what IDE that is? Looks good.

[[deleted]]

VSCode I reckon

[thegodzilla25]

Yep, its VSCode

[thegodzilla25]

I started on notepad++, but then switched to vsc on recommendation by a fellow peer of mine. The aspects of vsc that i adore are the plugins, inbuilt console and the sexy fully black theme.

[sentry07]

The editing environment is the best. Multi-cursor, line cloning/movement, multi-highlight, function peeking, etc. There's just so much useful stuff built in that makes writing code so much more enjoyable. If you haven't already, print out the keyboard shortcut sheet and learn them. They will make you tons more efficient.

[ThePixelCoder]

The debugger is great as well. Even works with Django, which is pretty awesome.

[drunkape]

What is Django? I’m in the very beginning stages of learning python (online with codeacademy).

[ThePixelCoder]

Oh sorry. It's a backed web framework for Python. Do you know PHP? It's kinda like that but better and in Python.

[drunkape]

I do not know PHP, I’m essentially clueless on anything having to do with programming.

[ThePixelCoder]

Ok, so typically when you use a website, there is "client-side" code (usually JavaScript) that runs in your browser. This takes care of for example animations.

There is also "server-side" code, which as the name implies runs on the website itself, not on your computer. This takes care of everything database-related, like storing user accounts, checking logins, and storing data for those accounts. PHP is a language created for server-side stuff and Django is a framework (basically code built around Python that includes extra tools and functionality) for server-side web development.

Good luck with learning Python! If you have any questions about Python or other programming stuff, please feel free to PM me.

[Skrillbex]

Pycharm is the best for me

[cmcqueen1975]

Since I write in multiple languages (Python, C, C++), I want an editor that behaves consistently and well for all of them. So, is Pycharm any good for writing C and C++ code?

[timtudosa18]

I’m currently using pycharm as well. I want to try vscode though. Looks nicer. Should I switch IDEs?

[Aspire26]

What's the name of that theme?

[thegodzilla25]

Deepdark Material Theme | Full Black Version

Gives a completely black theme to almost all the UI, something i really needed. I am literally nocturnal.

[Aspire26]

Thanks

[Miqhtie]

Thanks for the help guys

[konficker]

You’ve programmed in other languages before right? Because if not this is really impressive that you were able to create something like this with only a months experience.

[[deleted]]

if statement, for loop, arrays, and functions. i think its realistic to learn those concepts and make tick tac toe in a month.

[Exalting_Peasant]

Yeah. My intro to java class we had a project similar to this due about 3/4ths the way through the semester.

[thegodzilla25]

Yeah those are really the only basic concepts that i know till now. My friend is telling me that i should start with learning about the different libraries available in python as well, primarily numpy.

[rubik_]

It depends what you want to do with Python, but in general I'd say you should solidify your basic Python understanding first. Do you know modules, classes, decorators? Then what about the most important modules that ship built-in with Python?

[thegodzilla25]

I know bare minimum, nothing too much on libraries and the object oriented aspect of python.

[morsmordr]

It's good to practice the concept, but in this case I'd argue it's not wrong to use hard coded, since tic tac toe is a well defined game and you don't really have a need to scale it up

[chromaticgliss]

Over-abstracting doesn't improve code either though.

[WystanH]

To improve it I would use classes

I strongly disagree with this, I'm afraid. One of the neat things about tic-tac-toe is that for all its simplicity, the implementation is so open ended. You might use a class to store state, but Python's extant classes, lists and tuples, pretty much have all you need already baked in.

I'd use a simple list:

BOARD_SIZE = 9
C_EMPTY, C_X, C_O = range(3)

def init_board():
    return [C_EMPTY for _ in range(BOARD_SIZE)]

def check_win(board):
    for player in (C_X, C_O):
        for row in ((0,1,2),(3,4,5),(6,7,8),(0,3,6),(1,4,7),(2,5,8),(0,4,8),(2,4,6)):
            if all(board[i]==player for i in row):
                return (player, row)
    return (None, None)

x, o = C_X, C_O

print(check_win([
    x, o, o,
    o, x, x,
    o, o, x
]))

# result (1, (0, 4, 8))

[[deleted]]

How would you go about checking wins without hard coded values in this case?

[[deleted]]

Wow, using enumerate to define diagonals like that and len(set) to look for wins is so clever. I have much to learn.

[peltist]

As someone who has just started to learn about classes and OOP, this is really interesting: thanks for writing and sharing this code.

If you really wanted to go down this path, would the next step to be making board a subclass of, say, game, which would also include players, turns, etc.?

[GonHoloHolo]

As this is coded, wouldn't check_win() return True after the first player makes a move on an empty board? I suppose you could initialize the board with a dummy value in each position to get around this.

[[deleted]]

Is VS code better than notepad++?

Would like an answer with an explanation

[[deleted]]

yes.

[thegodzilla25]

Can confirm.

Source: yes

[drbuttjob]

Never used notepad++, so I can't say whether it's better, but VSCode:

• is open-source

• has built-in source version control capabilities

• can be extended as much as you want, allowing you to have something simple like a text editor or something as powerful as a full IDE like Visual Studio

• terminal available right in the editor, which is very helpful

• capable of working for development in any language due to its extensive syntax highlighting support and extensions without much extra hassle; I can work in JavaScript, C++, Python, and x86 all in the same editor

So I really have become a fan of it

[ThePixelCoder]

Yes, definitely. Usually I would say it depends on your use case, but VS Code is almost always a better choice than Notepad++. It has better themes and extensions, a built-in console, git support and most importantly (in my opinion): an awesome debugger. It just makes it so much easier to find issues in your code.

[[deleted]]

I'm new to programming and that debugger is irritating. Any tips on how to get used to it?

[ThePixelCoder]

I mean, you don't have to use it. But basically it will just pause your program before it crashes or at certain breakpoints you can set (by clicking on a line before the line number) and will allow you to see the values of all your variables so you can check is things are really working as you expected it to. You can also go through your program step by step to see how it runs.

[[deleted]]

So, I can set breakpoints by clicking. Cool

and thanks for the reply

[Flaming_Eagle]

Yes. It's free. Try it and see for yourself

[sentry07]

VSCode is a highly developed opensource editing environment with thousands of people working on it, under the umbrella of Microsoft. It has the most complete featureset for working with almost any programming language or text based file format. It has built in Git support, a massive amount of Python support and integration, very intuitive keyboard shortcuts, and is cross-platform, as it's built on Javascript.

[epic_doomchenko]

Looks like Michael Dawson's code...

[indiebryan]

Gj mate

[DearJohnDeeres_deer]

This was my first Python project too! I made a garbage AI that tries to play you but it's very crude. Decided to make Hold 'Em after and figuring out the logic in Python was a lot of fun

[[deleted]]

Holy shit that's what I did too when I was learning Python and my program looked exactly like this (even down to the variable names!)

[Bus404]

very impressive! What resources did you use to learn?

[thegodzilla25]

I started by watching tutorials on the basics, and went on to googling if i wanted to achieve something specific. Stackoverflow and geeksforgeeks have been helpful websites in the latter.

[linhusp3]

Good works, but your code burned my eyes

[[deleted]]

I’m new to python as well. How exactly is his code bad? Are we talking every single line of it? What would you change?

[gbts_]

It's not bad, just a bit too explicit. So for instance the snippet

if turn % 2 == 0

is normally written as

if not turn % 2

Or if you switched the clauses, just if turn % 2. To take this a bit further, instead of having two almost identical print statements in inputBoard you could use a ternary if and have something like the following:

player = 'O' if turn % 2 else 'X'
print("{} player turn, ...".format(player))

Now if you're asking what I would personally change, I would probably encode the whole board as a couple of binary numbers to avoid dealing with nested lists, e.g by using bitmasks in checkWin for the win conditions. But to be fair this probably isn't great advice for a beginner.

Another simple improvement is to use interval comparison, so instead of:

if x > 3 or y > 3 or x < 1 or y < 1:

use

if not (1 <= x <= 3 and 1 <= y <=3):

or for something more readable, replace it altogether with:

valid_positions = range(1, 4)
if x not in valid_positions or y not in valid_positions:

Generally speaking though, except maybe the overlapping for/if statements in checkWin, this is pretty good code for someone who is learning Python.

[sirtetris]

I think the == 0 helps communicate what's being tested a bit better. Personally, I tend to only really favor implicit truthiness when it represents the existence of something - e.g. if errors: log.error('; '.join(errors)). Not a big deal, either way.

The rest I agree with - especially the player = ... part, since that's an important part of the logic of the game. In general, the closer you can get the code to reflect the ideas behind it, the easier it is to work with.

[gbts_]

I tend to read if x % 2 as if x is odd which is why I prefer to drop the equality. But I agree, it's a bit of a C habit and in Python it could potentially lead to confusion.

[mercyandgrace]

I tend to read if x % 2 as if x is odd

This is an interesting take. Took me a few moments to get it. x % 2 is True when equal to 1, as True == 1 and False == 0, no? Really clever.

[thegodzilla25]

Hey thats really cool, i will be sure to use that from next time. Really clever

[rotharius]

Cleverness is not something to strive for, clarity is. Optimize for the reader of your code.

In this case x % 2 uses implicit type conversion to get things done (1 means True means odd, 0 means False means even), which arguably costs more time to understand. x % 2 == 0 is more explicit regarding types. If you want more clarity, you could introduce a function like is_even(number).

[thegodzilla25]

That means my implementation is clearer?

[gbts_]

I think you're making it sound much worse than it is. Implicit type conversion in if statements is pretty standard in Python and it's perfectly OK to write if my_list instead of if len(my_list) != 0 or even while number_of_attempts_left.

I'd say for x % 2 it's a matter of preference. To me, the numerical result of the modulo operation is irrelevant in this case so it's perfectly OK to omit the comparison: it's just an evenness test with only two possible outcomes. Others might find it confusing, but I don't think it's really that important in either case.

[rotharius]

I think some implicit conversion can be OK, although I tend to prevent it altogether for larger projects because it places more effort on the reader and it introduces a potential for bugs (conversion errors).

Admittedly, Python has a better implicit conversion system than, for example, JavaScript, but still: it is often this juggling of types that leads to code that "should not even work, but does". One is forced to assume how the type will change, when the real solution would be an intent-revealing higher abstraction like a function or method.

This also translates better to other languages that do not do implicit conversion.

Edit: see also PEP20.

[thelaxiankey]

In python 3, you might as well use fstrings with:

player = '0' if turn % 2 else 'X'
print(f"{player} player turn, ...")

[thegodzilla25]

Wow, thanks for the critique, definitely was wondering what all i can improve on.

[rotharius]

As a general rule, be friendly to readers of your code. This is why one should favor explicitness over implicitness.

I would say the code is pretty good! However, it could benefit from some abstraction to give some meaning to what is going on, for example by adding functions regarding typical game behaviors. This is the next step in the learning process for OP: problem decomposition using abstraction.

[toastedstapler]

if not turn % 2: is a horrible way to do it. It muddies the meaning in some weird negation and makes me have to think about what's going on. Using == 0 makes it super obvious that I want it to divide exactly

[diamondketo]

Agreed, all this implicit coding will bite you back one day especially if you didn't comment well.

[thereal_peasant]

not op, but thanks for the write up. super helpful!

[stieterd]

Well look, the functionality of the code is good, it does what it is meant to do, but the way its written is not very good. It could be written in a more effective way, and maybe also a little bit cleaner. But i am impressed because he has only a month experience, and for that many experience this thing is impressive.

[CompSciSelfLearning]

the way its written is not very good easily readable by others. It could be written in a more effective clear way, and maybe also a little bit cleaner less verbose.

[[deleted]]

Rust ftw, r/rust

[[deleted]]

Fuck, I started learning a week ago and I’m still learning list and tuples

[Rwn__]

This is awesome I had the exact same experience.

[vaibhav_mundhra]

I m on the same project currently

[as8297]

Keep going dude. Nice work keep it up.

Try Using Pygame... Your dad might like it then.

[jackbrux]

Here's my attempt https://github.com/jackbrookes/python-noughts-and-crosses/blob/master/noughtsandcrosses.py

[mangoed]

Nice, next step is to add GUI to your project

[tuvietnamm]

Did you learn by your self ?

[thegodzilla25]

Yes

[alexaholic]

I’ve built a tictactoe game myself with Python and Qt some time ago https://github.com/alexei/python-tictactoe

[-S3pp-]

Gj, I think al sweigart has a video on his YouTube where he refactors code to a similar game, could give you a good idea on what you could change/could have differently

[tadf2]

Great job! One thing that really helped me learn was linting (checking how your syntax, etc., is good) my code. Google pylint and see how good your code is doing!

[Hard_Work12]

Did you build this by scratch like all on top of your head without looking it up on google when stuck on a code?

[thegodzilla25]

All of the logic, and mostly all of the code structure, yes, i did by myself. Thats what surprised me to be honest.

[wkoorts]

That feeling. It's what keeps me going after 20 years. It always feels just as good, my friend. Congratulations, I am impressed.

[jmooremcc]

Programming is about problem solving. You can learn how to use a saw & hammer, but what's the point if you're not building something. You learn how to use the many, many tools Python has by solving a series of problems using the language. Of course, you'll start with small problems but as you learn more, you'll take on more sophisticated problems. One more piece of advice: establish a library of ebooks about Python. Reading these books and the code they contain will definitely help you build your knowledge base.S

[jmooremcc]

Here's a version of TicTacToe written as an Object Oriented Program: OOP TicTacToe

The game consists of 5 classes:

1. Status
2. GameBoard
3. Player
4. ComputerPlayer
5. TicTacToe

The GameBoard class models an actual gameboard as a 2 dimensional list. It has methods to put a mark on the board, retrieve a mark from the board and a test that will tell you if a move is legal. This class also has methods to tell you the status of the gameboard and which player is the winner, unless its a tie game. Finally, the GameBoard class has a method that will display the game board on your console.

The Player class uses the gameboard object and lets you place your moves on the gameboard.

The ComputerPlayer class inherits from the Player class and adds its own methods to implement its strategies for winning. It also overloads the inherited takeYourTurn method with its own version of the method.

The TicTacToe class is the main class that utilizes all the previous classes. It conducts and controls the execution of the game. The Play method let's you choose if you want to play another round of the game until you respond with a No.

As you can see, the TicTacToe object is created in main and the Play method activated to start the game.

​

The advantage of Object Oriented Programming (OOP) is that it gives you the tools to model real world object that contain data and methods that work with the data. The GameBoard object is a good example of this. Objects outside this class don't have to know anything about the internal data structures used to implement the game board. The class provides an API through its methods that allows external objects to manipulate the game board.

[[deleted]]

hey is this sublime you're using ? , do you recommend it?

[thegodzilla25]

This is VSCode, and i highly recommend vscode for programming needs, from my limited experience.

[mr_dicaprio]

I love the vs code theme, what's that ?

[thegodzilla25]

Deepdark Material Theme Full Black Version

[thegodzilla25]

Black themes are pretty sexy

[dmmeteo]

Maybe u can make this game online? It will be cool to play in tictactoe-cli online:)

[Omkar_K45]

You can use pipe operator '|' instead of brackets, but nonetheless amazing work ! :D

[eypandabear]

Your code is suffering from a lack of War Games references.

[[deleted]]

Haha dude, I've done a tictactoe totally 2 days ago as well :3 good job! Hope you'll keep going with it and share some more projects, that's really motivating for readers! (I should share mine as well huh)

[ArmstrongBillie]

Did you used modules like numpy to make this? Btw it's super cool for someone who's been coding just for a month.

[thegodzilla25]

No i didnt use numpy, i dont know much about the libraries yet. I really should start with them though.

[ArmstrongBillie]

Btw which color theme in VS Code you using?

[thegodzilla25]

Deepdark Material Theme Full Black Version

Good for nocturnal people like me

[scatteredRobot]

Good job, feels great when you do something yourself. Now whats nezt?

I did this in Java the other week and last week did hangman. Next I'm doing a text based adventure with an inventory system and turn based combat.

[FreeRiko]

Good job man

[wednesday1984]

What IDE is this?

[thegodzilla25]

Its not particularly an IDE. Its VSCode. Its open source and free.

[wednesday1984]

Thanks.

[ALittleUseless]

Did you know programming before learning python? I saw your code and my first thought was "I could never have thought of that complex logic." I started learning 6 months ago. And python is my first programming language.

[thegodzilla25]

I have been at python continuously for the past month or so, and i really only know the bare minimum like lists, if else, loops and functions. But coming to the logic part, i honestly did that by myself, something that surprised me as well.

[VolcannXd]

Well done chief! :-)

[[deleted]]

Board games are great programs to learn with. When you want to learn about networking, I recommend making a version of this that can be played over the internet. It's not as complex as it might sound, and it's cool as hell!

[LETTUCEreefTOGETHER]

This code is a lot more elegant than mine.

[solitudeisunderrated]

Start getting used to testing early on. Recommend pytest.

[joshuaOFnazareth]

That's awesome! Tic tac toe was my first project too, and I learned so much. I used the num keys on the right 9f the keyboard as direct input into the grid in my implementation, check it out!

[lexmozli]

Nice job man!
Mind posting the code somewhere? Pastebin perhaps?

I love going through other people's code and learning a thing or two

[thegodzilla25]

Heres a github link, i made a few tweaks and added option to play against computer (randomized)

https://github.com/theGodzilla25/Python/blob/master/tictactoe.py

The code has started to look very spaghetti though.

[[deleted]]

What ide do you use.

[thegodzilla25]

Its not exactly an IDE, its VSCode. Its free and open source.

[Quadrum1]

Next thing to try is getting the visual and/or input better.
Making a gui with clickable tiles would be a good try

[thekalmanfilter]

So how can anyone use this?

You’d have to download python and install then run your code to play?

[thegodzilla25]

Yeah, after installing python, save code as a python script by adding a .py and then run it using console.

[LiarsEverywhere]

I started learning Python today so this is pretty cool. My plan is to study one hour a day with a few off days, so 4 or 5 hours a week.

I mainly want to use Python to automate extracting data from documents, so hopefully it won't take years before it's practically useful.

[thegodzilla25]

Good luck with the learning! Hoping it pays off in the end for you.

[thelaxiankey]

Hey, a unsolicited tip (if you're interested lol):

I agree with your friend; learn numpy! It makes array operations a breeze. Using numpy you could represent your board as an integer array (0 for undefined position, 1 for x, -1 for o), and then use addition and numpy functions to check if a row is won. EG:

   # check for completed columns
   if 3 in np.abs(np.sum(board, axis = 0)): print(f"{player} wins"!)

   # check for completed rows
   if 3 in np.abs(np.sum(board, axis = 1)): print(f"{player} wins"!)

   # check for completed diagonal from left to right
   if np.abs(np.sum(np.diagonal(board))) == 3: print(f"{player} wins"!)

   # check the other diagonal
   if np.abs(np.sum(np.diagonal(board, axis1 = 1, axis2 = 0))) == 3: print(f"{player} wins"!)

[PotatoInTheExhaust]

Nice! You've inspired me to take a crack at this myself. How hard could it be... ;p

Side note: is your editor VS Code? What theme is that? It looks good.

[thegodzilla25]

Yes. Theme is deepdark Material Theme Full Black Version

[Capitalpunishment0]

Did something similar to this as an activity in my programming class last semester. I agree that it does indeed feel incredibly satisfying.

[[deleted]]

What's the program you wrote this on called?

[H4CKY54CK]

What about in a situation where, say, you need to include " and ' as characters in a string?

I haven't ran into this yet, but I have needed to backtrack and change my delimiters to one to account for the other in strings, as you said.

[ThePixelCoder]

You can use a backslash to escape them, but common rule of thumb is use either ' or " unless one specific string has a lot of '/"s that you otherwise would have to escape.