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This program features a small algorithm for drawing ASCII-art diamonds of various sizes. It contains functions for drawing either an outline or filled-in-style diamond of the size you dictate. These functions are good practice for a beginner; try to understand the pattern behind the diamond drawings as they increase in size.
When you run diamonds.py, the output will look like this:
Diamonds, by Al Sweigart [email protected]
/\
\/
/\
\/
/\
/ \
\ /
\/
/\
//\\
\\//
\/
/\
/ \
/ \
\ /
\ /
\/
/\
//\\
///\\\
\\\///
\\//
\/
--snip--A helpful approach to creating this program yourself is to “draw” diamonds of several sizes in your editor first and then figure out the pattern they follow as the diamond gets bigger. This technique will help you realize that each row of an outline diamond has four parts: the number of leading spaces, the exterior forward slash, the number of interior spaces, and the exterior backslash. Filled diamonds have several interior forward slashes and backslashes rather than interior spaces. Cracking this pattern is how I wrote diamonds.py.
1. r"""Diamonds, by Al Sweigart [email protected]
2. Draws diamonds of various sizes.
3. View this code at https://nostarch.com/big-book-small-python-projects
4. /\ /\
5. / \ //\\
6. /\ /\ / \ ///\\\
7. / \ //\\ / \ ////\\\\
8. /\ /\ / \ ///\\\ \ / \\\\////
9. / \ //\\ \ / \\\/// \ / \\\///
10. \ / \\// \ / \\// \ / \\//
11. \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/
12. Tags: tiny, beginner, artistic"""
13.
14. def main():
15. print('Diamonds, by Al Sweigart [email protected]')
16.
17. # Display diamonds of sizes 0 through 6:
18. for diamondSize in range(0, 6):
19. displayOutlineDiamond(diamondSize)
20. print() # Print a newline.
21. displayFilledDiamond(diamondSize)
22. print() # Print a newline.
23.
24.
25. def displayOutlineDiamond(size):
26. # Display the top half of the diamond:
27. for i in range(size):
28. print(' ' * (size - i - 1), end='') # Left side space.
29. print('/', end='') # Left side of diamond.
30. print(' ' * (i * 2), end='') # Interior of diamond.
31. print('\\') # Right side of diamond.
32.
33. # Display the bottom half of the diamond:
34. for i in range(size):
35. print(' ' * i, end='') # Left side space.
36. print('\\', end='') # Left side of diamond.
37. print(' ' * ((size - i - 1) * 2), end='') # Interior of diamond.
38. print('/') # Right side of diamond.
39.
40.
41. def displayFilledDiamond(size):
42. # Display the top half of the diamond:
43. for i in range(size):
44. print(' ' * (size - i - 1), end='') # Left side space.
45. print('/' * (i + 1), end='') # Left half of diamond.
46. print('\\' * (i + 1)) # Right half of diamond.
47.
48. # Display the bottom half of the diamond:
49. for i in range(size):
50. print(' ' * i, end='') # Left side space.
51. print('\\' * (size - i), end='') # Left side of diamond.
52. print('/' * (size - i)) # Right side of diamond.
53.
54.
55. # If this program was run (instead of imported), run the game:
56. if __name__ == '__main__':
57. main()
After entering the source code and running it a few times, try making experimental changes to it. On your own, you can also try to figure out how to do the following:
Try to find the answers to the following questions. Experiment with some modifications to the code and rerun the program to see what effect the changes have.
print('\\') on line 31 to print('@')?print(' ' * (i * 2), end='') on line 30 to print('@' * (i * 2), end='')?range(0, 6) on line 18 to range(0, 30)?for i in range(size): on line 34 or on line 49?