Jason Abed | GitHub Pages

Day 1 - Build a “Guess the Number” Game in Python

02 Jan 2025

Welcome to Day 1 of our 7 Days of Programming series! Usually, when people learn a new programming language, they start by writing a small program called “Hello World.” This program literally just prints the phrase "Hello World" to the screen. It’s a fun way to confirm that the language is installed and working correctly—but it’s not exactly exciting.

Today, we’re going to do something more interesting: create a small game called “Guess the Number.” You’ll learn how to install Python, set up Visual Studio Code (VS Code), and write a simple, interactive Python program—all at a beginner-friendly pace.

Why This Project?

  1. Immediate Feedback: You’ll see the results of your code instantly.
  2. Core Concepts: You’ll practice variables, loops, conditionals, and user input—all essential to any programming language.
  3. More Fun Than “Hello World”: Instead of just printing a phrase, you get to build a tiny game—making learning much more engaging.

Step 1: Installing Python

macOS

  • Homebrew makes installation super easy.
  1. Open Terminal (press Cmd + Space and type “Terminal”).
  2. Install Homebrew if you haven’t already: 
    /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"
  3. Then install Python: 
    brew update
brew install python
  4. Check your version: 
    python3 --version

    You should see Python 3.x.x.

    ** note: newer versions of macOS have deployed System Integrity Protection (SIP) to protect the default install of Python, that Apple users for the system. This is usually out of date. See our guide on best practices for a clean python install on macOS: https://j-abed.github.io/python/macos/dev/2025/01/01/simplifying-python-setup.html

Windows

  1. Go to https://www.python.org/downloads/ and download the official installer.
  2. Important: During the installation, check “Add Python to PATH.”
  3. After installation, open Command Prompt (or PowerShell) and verify: 
    python --version

    You should see something like Python 3.x.x.

Step 2: Setting Up VS Code

Visual Studio Code (VS Code) is our recommended editor because:

  • It’s lightweight, fast, and cross-platform.
  • It has integrated Git support and an official Python extension that makes coding simpler.
  1. Download VS Code from https://code.visualstudio.com/download.
  2. Install it on your system:
    • On macOS, drag VS Code to the Applications folder.
    • On Windows, run the installer.
  3. Launch VS Code and install the Python extension:
    • Click the Extensions icon (left sidebar).
    • Search “Python” and install the Microsoft Python extension.

Step 3: Planning the Game Logic

Before we code, let’s outline what we want:

  1. Generate a random number between 1 and 100.
  2. Prompt the user to guess that number.
  3. If the guess is too low, print “Too low!”
  4. If the guess is too high, print “Too high!”
  5. If the guess is correct, congratulate the user and show how many guesses it took.

Here’s the text-based flowchart to illustrate the program’s logic:

           +-------------------+
           |      Start        |
           +-------------------+
                    |
                    v
       +-----------------------------+
       |  Generate random number     |
       |      between 1 and 100      |
       +-----------------------------+
                    |
                    v
       +-----------------------------+
       |  Initialize guess_count = 0 |
       +-----------------------------+
                    |
                    v
           +-------------------+
           |   Start Loop      |
           |   (while True)    |
           +-------------------+
                    |
                    v
       +-----------------------------+
       |   Prompt user for guess     |
       +-----------------------------+
                    |
                    v
       +-----------------------------+
       |  Is guess < number_to_guess?|
       +-----------------------------+
           |                |
           | Yes            | No
           v                v
+-------------------+   +-------------------+
|   Print "Too Low" |   | Is guess >        |
|                   |   | number_to_guess?  |
+-------------------+   +-------------------+
                             |            |
                             | Yes        | No
                             v            v
                  +-------------------+   +---------------------------+
                  | Print "Too High"  |   |    Congratulations!       |
                  |                   |   |  (Correct guess + break)  |
                  +-------------------+   +---------------------------+

Step 4: Writing the Code

4.1 Create a New Python File

  1. In VS Code, go to File > Open Folder and create/select a folder for your project.
  2. Click File > New File and save the file as guess_the_number.py.

4.2 Import the Random Module

import random
  • Python includes a built-in random library. By writing import random, we’re telling Python we want to use functions (like randint) that this library provides.

4.3 Generate the Random Number

number_to_guess = random.randint(1, 100)
  • random.randint(1, 100) picks a whole number between 1 and 100. We store that number in a variable called number_to_guess.
  • What is a variable? A variable is like a container in your program where we can keep data. You give each container a name (like number_to_guess) so you can easily reference and change it throughout your code.

4.4 Keep Track of Guesses

guess_count = 0
  • Another variable! guess_count is a container that starts at 0. Each time the player makes a guess, we’ll increase (increment) this number by 1.
  • Why do we need it? We want to keep track of how many guesses the user takes to get the right number. That way, we can display it at the end of the game.

4.5 Create a Loop to Ask for Guesses

while True:
    guess = input("Guess a number between 1 and 100: ")
    guess = int(guess)  # Convert the string to an integer
    guess_count += 1
    
    if guess < number_to_guess:
        print("Too low!")
    elif guess > number_to_guess:
        print("Too high!")
    else:
        print(f"Congratulations! You guessed the number in {guess_count} tries.")
        break

Step 5: Running the Game

Method A: Use the VS Code Terminal

  1. Go to View > Terminal in VS Code (or press Ctrl+\` on Windows / Cmd+\` on macOS).
  2. Ensure you’re in your project folder.
  3. Run: 
    python guess_the_number.py

    (On macOS, it may be python3 guess_the_number.py.)

Method B: Click the “Run Python File” Button

  • With the Python extension installed, you can just click the Run (or “Play”) icon in the top-right corner of VS Code’s editor window.

Step 6: Possible Enhancements

  1. Guess Limit
    • End the game if the user doesn’t guess correctly within 10 tries, and reveal the number.
  2. Difficulty Levels
    • Ask the user for “Easy,” “Medium,” or “Hard” before generating the number.
    • Use a smaller or larger range accordingly.
  3. High Score File
    • Write the best score (fewest guesses) to a text file.
    • Display it whenever the player starts a new game.

Conclusion & Final Congratulations

You did it! You’ve now installed Python, set up and configured your IDE (VS Code), and built your first Python application—one that’s far more interesting than “Hello World.” Not only have you picked up core programming concepts like variables, loops, conditionals, and user input, but you’ve also gotten a taste of how to make code interactive and fun.

Take a moment to celebrate your progress! Stay tuned for Day 2, where we’ll tackle another exciting Python project—step by step, just like today.

Until then, happy coding!

Full code can be found in a repo on github: https://github.com/j-abed/Number-Guess

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