Learning Python? Enjoy a quick tutorial on how to build a super simple Snake game right in your terminal!
Pre-requisites:
- Python 3
- Your favorite text editor
- The Python curses library (install by running: pip install windows-curses)
Github repository linked at the bottom.
To get started, let’s first import the necessary libraries:
import cursesfrom curses import KEY_RIGHT, KEY_LEFT, KEY_UP, KEY_DOWNfrom random import randint
Next, we need to initialize the game window:
curses.initscr() #initialize screen
window = curses.newwin(30, 60, 0, 0) #create new window H=30, W=60
window.keypad(True) #enable keypad
curses.noecho() #turn off automatic echoing of keys to the screen
curses.curs_set(0)
window.nodelay(True) #do not wait for the user inputNow, let’s set some global variables for the key, score, snake, and food coordinates. We will also display the first food item:
#initiate values
key = KEY_RIGHT
score = 0#initialize first…
Seven years ago, I would have adamantly told you that I wouldn’t ever work in tech — it just wasn’t my thing. Code, to me, just wasn’t as visual or exciting as mechanical components and machining.
Hi, I am Carla and I am a software engineer; but, you might know me better as @CarlaNotarobot on Twitter or “That account that Tweets clingy programming jokes”.
A question I get asked exceedingly often is how I got into software engineering and what was my journey.
I didn’t want to fit my response in a mile long Twitter thread, so here I am…
So you’ve got a technical interview coming up, that’s awesome! Nervous? That’s ok — you’ll do great!
Hi, I’m Carla and I’m a software engineer.
Over the past few years, between internships and full time positions, I have participated in roughly 15–20 technical interviews (also called coding interviews). I have interviewed at Google, Microsoft, Chick-fil-A, and several other companies for software engineering positions.
Here are some tips and tricks I have picked up along the way:
FIRST and FOREMOST
Communicate with your interviewer! You should be walking them through each step of your thought process.
Quite literally, if there was a time to Think Out Loud — this is it.
Interviewers want to know that you…
Video Tutorial:
So, you’ve landed an interview at your dream summer internship, awesome! The recruiter just told you to expect a coding challenge/technical interview (sometimes it is a “technical screen”).
Whether it is a white boarding style interview where you’re speaking directly with other engineers or simply a HackerRank challenge, it is a good idea to prepare.
If this is your first interviewing experience, don’t panic. Odds are, you’ve already encountered coding problems like this in your coursework. It is just a matter of fine-tuning your your problem-solving skills and language specific syntax.
Normally, the interviewers will let you…
If everyone loves butter and everyone loves chocolate, why is it so hard to find chocolate butter? I got too curious today so I decided to make it myself and document it for everyone else that doesn’t have this much time on their hands.
Video of this experiment:
Ingredients
- 1 pint of heavy whipping cream
- 1/2 cup of semisweet chocolate chips (melted)
- 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder
- 3 tablespoons of ice cold water
- Pinch of salt (optional)
Tools
- Stand mixer or food processor
- Fine mesh strainer
- Bowl
- Clean dish towel (not fluffy and optional)
Blend
Pour the cream and salt in a stand mixer or food…
So you’ve decided you are interested in starting in a career in tech , congrats!
According to CNBC, there are approximately 700,000 vacant tech jobs in the United States. There is no better time to get started!
Little disclaimer, I have a degree in computer science. However, in every single job I have held — from fullstack web development to research and development — 90% of my coworkers did not have a computer science (or similar) degree. Plus, at my first job out of college as a robotic process automation engineer, less than half of my entire department of engineers…
When I began studying computer science six years ago, I wondered how the gender imbalance would affect my career in tech. We all hear it in the news: sexual harassment, “brogrammers”, gender bias, etc.
What we don’t talk about are some of the awesome advantages of being a woman in tech.
Disclaimer, your experience will vary. I finished my CompSci degree from an mid-west city university a little over a year ago — so, including internships, I’ve only been working in the field for about two years.
I also have a tendency to find a humorous silver lining in everything.
The bathrooms are spotless and practically always empty
…
Carla Notarobot
Software Engineer and Bad Joke Sharer
