UIUC ChicTech Beginner Workshop 2024!

Welcome!

(It will really help to bookmark this link.)

Setup

You can use GitHub Codespaces to instantly create a development environment in the cloud. For us, this means you can code on any device by just logging into Github and running code. This is an easy way to get students started without worrying about installation and setup.

Setting Up a GitHub Codespace

1. Open Codespaces: Click on the Code button located at the top right of the repository file list.

2. Create Codespace: In the dropdown, select the Codespaces tab, then click on New codespace.

3. Wait for Setup: GitHub will now create your codespace. This may take a few minutes.

4. Start Coding: Once the codespace is ready, you can start coding directly in your browser.

For more detailed instructions, refer to the GitHub Codespaces documentation.

Accessing an already-created Github Codespace

1. Navigate to Codespaces: Go to your GitHub repository and click on the Code button at the top right of the repository file list.

2. Select Codespaces Tab: In the dropdown menu, click on the Codespaces tab.

3. Open Existing Codespace: You will see a list of your existing codespaces. Click on the codespace you want to open.

4. Wait for Initialization: GitHub will initialize your codespace. This may take a few moments.

5. Start Working: Once the codespace is open, you can continue working on your project directly in your browser.

Coding!

These exercises are designed to help with the basics of Python. You can complete each of the exercises in order. Each exercise comes with documentation and instructions. However, if doing these without any help, it may be useful to have a Python reference guide open or be prepared to Google some stuff. W3schools is a great resource for Python documentation. Stack Overflow is also a great resource for any questions you may have.

I'm done. What's next?

More updates to this repository?

If we update this repository with more exercises, you can always come back and do more. In your Codespace, navigate to the terminal and run git pull to get the latest changes.

(we will probably not update this repo since it's a single workshop, but some of our other resources are constantly getting updated.)

Learn more Python?

You can learn from w3schools. Alternately, we have our own Python Workshop that you can check out. You can create a Codespace for this workshop the same way we created it for this one. (this workshop gets updated a lot, so it would be good to run git pull in the terminal whenever you log in to get the latest changes.)

Write more games?

We have more templates for games! You can find them at the Game Collection. You can also create a Codespace for this repository. (This repository gets updated quite a lot, so it's a good idea to run git pull in the terminal whenever you log in to get the latest changes.)

Have more questions?

Submit an issue here - you'll need to click "New Issue" at the top right and follow the instructions.

(most of this documentation written with my helpful buddy Github Copilot)