Before we dive right into programming, we need to think critically about what we are building and plan a bit ahead of time; this helps us figure out what programming skills we need to use in order to make our program work.
So, let's imagine this game with each player having their own virtual backpack:
- Each player enters their name, and then places four items in their backpack.
- Then, each player gets a chance to guess what is in the other player's backpack.
- If the player guesses correctly, a message is printed, and one point is added to the score.
- If the player guesses incorrectly, a different message is printed, and no points are added to the score.
- Finally, a message asks the players whether they would like to play the game again.
- If they type
yes, the whole process takes place again. If they typeno, then the scores of each player are printed and the entire game stops.
Already, we have many things to do. Each of the points mentioned is a task that needs to be solved using our coding skills. Before reading the code sample ahead, ask yourself how you would try to solve each problem. Maybe make some drawings, or type an outline of each thing that the program needs to do to succeed. Then, save those ideas as you go through this chapter and write your backpack game. You might try some of your ideas, and check whether your ideas work! If so, that is great. You will discover that there is not one proper way to program. Some ways are better than others, but it is never wrong to try something out.