After gaining experience in block programming languages, PLTW AP CSP shifts to Python for the rest of the course. Python is one of the most popular programming languages today, and one used by many colleges and universities (including MIT!) for their introductory programming courses.
In this assignment, you’ll write a simple text version of Tic-Tac-Toe in Python according to these specifications.
The PLTW curriculum uses a professional package called Enthought Canopy with Python 2.7, but many schools have opted to use the cloud-based repl.it environment with Python 3, or the free Python open source download of either version.
If you’re already familiar with Python, use any environment you’re comfortable with and just write the code.
If you’re an experienced programmer but new to Python, try this tutorial; you can skim read sections 1-7, which is as deep as PLTW AP CSP goes, and pause to try things out as you wish. It’s written for the standard source download which include the Integrated Development and Learning Environment (IDLE, as in Eric – get used to the Monty Python references).
If most of your prior experience is HTML/CSS and little Javascript, you can:
Work through Activities 1.3.2 through 1.3.8 as a student; these are designed to take students about 16 class periods, but you can skip through the non-programming bits. It’s probably easiest to use the Linux, Mac, or Windows version of 64-bit Python 2.7 from the Enthought Downloads page, but you could use the latest 2.7 version of the open source download as a lighter-weight alternative.
Work through an online Python 2.7 tutorial. There are plenty out there, but How To Think Like A Computer Scientist is the favorite of most TEALS staff. It’s used extensively in the TEALS Intro to CS Semester 2 Python course and is designed for motivated technically savvy adults who are not programmers. You’ll learn the theory along with the coding. This will likely take you about same amount of time as Option 1, but you’ll end up with a more solid base to build on.