[Tutor] Looking for suggestions for improving chessTimer.py code

[bhaaluu]

Greetings,

On 10/26/07, Dick Moores <rdm at rcblue.com> wrote:
> At 09:33 AM 10/25/2007, Dick Moores wrote:
> >Please give me constructive criticism of
> ><http://www.rcblue.com/Python/chessTimerForWebV6.py>
>
> Hmm. Nothing. One problem may be that only people using Windows can
> run the script.

The first thing I saw when I looked at the code was that it was
for MS-Windows only, so I didn't waste anymore time with it.

Recently, I ran across some code that tried MS-Windows, except
if the user wasn't running MS-Windows, it assumed they were
running some *nix variant, and loaded those modules instead.
That certainly makes code more platform independent.

This is what it looked like:
try:
    # windows or dos
    import msvcrt
    getkey = msvcrt.getch
except ImportError:
    # assume unix
    import tty, termios

Since Python doesn't come bundled with MS-Windows, out-of-the-box,
I don't think we should presume that "everyone" has Python on their
MS-Windows computer? OTOH, Python is usually part of the base or
core system on a GNU/Linux install. I'm not sure about Mac OS X.x?

Of course, if you only want MS-Windows users to run your code, then....
nevermind! 8^D

I'm still working my way through Python tutorials, and as yet, haven't
written any code that makes use of any platform specific libraries.
However, when I DO, and IF I forget to try:except: so other platforms
can run my code, Please Slap Me, and show me THIS post! =)

That being said:
Besides msvcrt/curses, what other libraries are there that we should
be aware of? I'd like to see them as pairs, if possible.... this looks
like a perfect thing for a dictionary! =)

I certainly think this is something that Newbies (like myself) should learn.
But without a MS-Windows computer handy, I don't know? Is there a
place that has this information?

Happy Programming!
-- 
b h a a l u u at g m a i l dot c o m
http://www.geocities.com/ek.bhaaluu/index.html


>
> I've developed chessTimer a bit further:
> <http://www.rcblue.com/Python/chessTimerFischerDelayForWebV2.py>
>
> I'm still hoping for some constructive criticism. But I also thought
> I'd mention the points I have doubts about:
> 1. Is wrapping the long lines where I have done so OK?
> 2. I've used 1 for White player, -1 for Black player, and (-1)*player
> to alternate players. Is there a better way?
> 3. I've used a lot of variables. Too Many?
> 4. Should more of the code be in functions?
> 5. Is there a way to collapse lines 107-114:
> if player == 1: # player is White
>                  whiteMoveCounter += 1
>                  print "Black to make move %d" % (blackMoveCounter)
>                  remainingWhiteTime -= timeUsedThisMove
> elif player == -1: # player is Black
>                  blackMoveCounter += 1
>                  print "White to make move %d" % (whiteMoveCounter)
>                  remainingBlackTime -= timeUsedThisMove
>
>
> Thanks,
>
> Dick Moores
>
>
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