Calling an object from a list

[Cjllewey369]

I don't know how clear my title is, but I can't think of how to title this problem. I am writing a single card game of War. It is very simple. Every round the deck is populated and shuffled. A single card is dealt to each of two players. The card with the higher value wins, and the player gets a point. If there is a tie, nobody earns the point, and a new round begins. I am reusing code from a blackjack program provided in the book I am working out of. It uses a list to organize each of the players that would be in the blackjack game. I kept the list around so I could use the functions associated with it. However, in the Blackjack game, it compared each players hand value to a dealer. In my program, I want to compare the value of the card the player holds to each other's hand.

the player object is defined like this:

class War_Player(War_Hand):
    """ A War Player. """
    wins = int(0)
 
    def lose(self):
        print self.name, "loses."
 
    def win(self):
        print self.name, "wins."
        wins += 1
 
    def tie(self):
        print self.name, "ties."
 

and then there is a War_Game object with this code:

class War_Game(object):
    """ A War Game. """
    def __init__(self, names):      
        self.players = []
        for name in names:
            player = War_Player(name)
            self.players.append(player)
 
        self.dealer = War_Dealer("Dealer")
 
        self.deck = War_Deck()
        self.deck.populate()
        self.deck.shuffle()
 
    def play(self):
        # Make sure deck is populated.
        self.deck.clear(self)
        self.deck.populate(self)
        self.deck.shuffle(self)
        # deal card to everyone
        self.deck.deal(self.players, per_hand = 1)
        for player in self.players:
            print player
 
        # compare each player still playing to each other
        for player in self.players
            if player.total > self.dealer.total:
                player.win()
            elif player.total < self.dealer.total:
                player.lose()
            else:
                player.push()
 
        # remove everyone's cards
        for player in self.players:
            player.clear()
        self.dealer.clear()
 

the bold, italicized, underlined portions are the remnants of the Blackjack code that I can't figure out how to change to fit this. I need to change it to compare each players hand to the other players hand rather than the dealer(which i have removed from the program completely). If you could explain to me how to do it, and why it works that way, that would be great! I am frustrated that I can't seem to figure this out. Thanks in advance for any help you can give!

[bartonc]

Ok. We can do this, but you left out the parent class of War_Player() which is where some of this is going to take place (it looks like). Presumably, one thing that War_Hand() does is

def __init__(maybeName, whatEver):
    self.name = maybyName
    # etc.

In the sub-class there is one problem that I can see right off:

class War_Player(War_Hand):
    """ A War Player. """
    ### This is a "class variable, shared by all instances ###
    wins = int(0)
    ### To keep track of this players wins, you need:
    self.wins = 0
    ### do the same thing for losses and ties
 
    def lose(self):
        print self.name, "loses."
 
    def win(self):
        print self.name, "wins."
        ### Change here, too
        self.wins += 1
 
    def tie(self):
        print self.name, "ties."
 

I don't know how clear my title is, but I can't think of how to title this problem. I am writing a single card game of War. It is very simple. Every round the deck is populated and shuffled. A single card is dealt to each of two players. The card with the higher value wins, and the player gets a point. If there is a tie, nobody earns the point, and a new round begins. I am reusing code from a blackjack program provided in the book I am working out of. It uses a list to organize each of the players that would be in the blackjack game. I kept the list around so I could use the functions associated with it. However, in the Blackjack game, it compared each players hand value to a dealer. In my program, I want to compare the value of the card the player holds to each other's hand.

the player object is defined like this:

class War_Player(War_Hand):
    """ A War Player. """
    wins = int(0)
 
    def lose(self):
        print self.name, "loses."
 
    def win(self):
        print self.name, "wins."
        wins += 1
 
    def tie(self):
        print self.name, "ties."
 

and then there is a War_Game object with this code:

class War_Game(object):
    """ A War Game. """
    def __init__(self, names):      
        self.players = []
        for name in names:
            player = War_Player(name)
            self.players.append(player)
 
        self.dealer = War_Dealer("Dealer")
 
        self.deck = War_Deck()
        self.deck.populate()
        self.deck.shuffle()
 
    def play(self):
        # Make sure deck is populated.
        self.deck.clear(self)
        self.deck.populate(self)
        self.deck.shuffle(self)
        # deal card to everyone
        self.deck.deal(self.players, per_hand = 1)
        for player in self.players:
            print player
 
        # compare each player still playing to each other
        for player in self.players
            if player.total > self.dealer.total:
                player.win()
            elif player.total < self.dealer.total:
                player.lose()
            else:
                player.push()
 
        # remove everyone's cards
        for player in self.players:
            player.clear()
        self.dealer.clear()
 

the bold, italicized, underlined portions are the remnants of the Blackjack code that I can't figure out how to change to fit this. I need to change it to compare each players hand to the other players hand rather than the dealer(which i have removed from the program completely). If you could explain to me how to do it, and why it works that way, that would be great! I am frustrated that I can't seem to figure this out. Thanks in advance for any help you can give![/quote]

[Cjllewey369]

I'm sorry it's taken me so long to get back on here about this problem, but with school coming to a close, things have been crazy!

Earlier I posted too little code, and now I fear that I'm going to post too much. I think, though, that I'd rather post too much and get a complete answer than post too little and leave feeling confused. Here is the entirety of the program, followed by the two modules that I import.

# Blackjack
# From 1 to 7 players compete against a dealer
 
import cards, games     
 
class War_Card(cards.Card):
    """ A War Card. """
    ACE_VALUE = 11
 
    def get_value(self):
        value = War_Card.RANKS.index(self.rank) + 1
        if value > 10:
            value = 10
        else:
            value = None
        return value
 
    value = property(get_value)
 
 
class War_Deck(cards.Deck):
    """ A War Deck. """
    def populate(self):
        for suit in War_Card.SUITS: 
            for rank in War_Card.RANKS: 
                self.cards.append(War_Card(rank, suit))
 
 
class War_Hand(cards.Hand):
    """ A War Hand. """
    def __init__(self, name):
        super(War_Hand, self).__init__()
        self.name = name
 
    def __str__(self):
        rep = self.name + ":\t" + super(War_Hand, self).__str__()  
        if self.total:
            rep += "(" + str(self.total) + ")"        
        return rep
 
    def get_total(self):
        # if a card in the hand has value of None, then total is None
        for card in self.cards:
            if not card.value:
                return None
 
        # add up card values, treat each Ace as 1
        total = 0
        for card in self.cards:
              total += card.value
 
        return total
 
    total = property(get_total)
 
class War_Player(War_Hand):
    """ A War Player. """
    def _init__(self, wins = int(0)):
        wins = 0
 
    def lose(self):
        print self.name, "loses."
 
    def win(self):
        print self.name, "wins."
        self.wins = self.wins + 1
 
class War_Game(object):
    """ A War Game. """
    def __init__(self, names):      
        self.players = []
        for name in names:
            player = War_Player(name)
            self.players.append(player)
 
        self.deck = War_Deck()
        self.deck.populate()
        self.deck.shuffle()
 
    def play(self, game):
        # Make sure deck is populated.
        self.deck.clear()
        self.deck.populate()
        self.deck.shuffle()
        # deal card to everyone
        self.deck.deal(self.players, per_hand = 1)
        for player in self.players:
            print player
 
        # compare each player playing to each other
            if ?????.value > ?????.value:
                ?????.win()
                ?????.lose()
            elif ?????.value < ?????.value:
                ?????.win()
                ?????.lose()
            else:
                print "That was a tie. Nobody get's a point."
 
 
        # remove everyone's cards
        for player in self.players:
            player.clear()
        self.dealer.clear()
 
 
def main():
    print "\t\tWelcome to War!\n"
    print
    """\n\n\tThere are two players. Each player recieves a card.
    print "The player with the highest card value wins and gets a point.
    In the event of a tie, neither player wins, and no points are awarded."
    """
 
    names = []
    number = 2
    for i in range(number):
        name = raw_input("Enter player name: ")
        names.append(name)
    print
 
    game = War_Game(names)
 
    again = None
    while again != "n":
        game.play(game)
        again = games.ask_yes_no("\nDo you want to play again?: ")
 
 
main()
raw_input("\n\nPress the enter key to exit.")
 

Here is the cards module:

# Cards Module
# Basic classes for a game with playing cards
 
class Card(object):
    """ A playing card. """
    RANKS = ["A", "2", "3", "4", "5", "6", "7",
             "8", "9", "10", "J", "Q", "K"]
    SUITS = ["c", "d", "h", "s"]
 
    def __init__(self, rank, suit, face_up = True):
        self.rank = rank
        self.suit = suit
        self.is_face_up = face_up
 
    def __str__(self):
        if self.is_face_up:
            rep = self.rank + self.suit
        else:
            rep = "XX"
        return rep
 
    def flip(self):
        self.is_face_up = not self.is_face_up
 
 
class Hand(object):
    """ A hand of playing cards. """
    def __init__(self):
        self.cards = []
 
    def __str__(self):
        if self.cards:
           rep = ""
           for card in self.cards:
               rep += str(card) + "\t"
        else:
            rep = "<empty>"
        return rep
 
    def clear(self):
        self.cards = []
 
    def add(self, card):
        self.cards.append(card)
 
    def give(self, card, other_hand):
        self.cards.remove(card)
        other_hand.add(card)
 
 
class Deck(Hand):
    """ A deck of playing cards. """
    def populate(self):
        for suit in Card.SUITS:
            for rank in Card.RANKS: 
                self.add(Card(rank, suit))
 
    def shuffle(self):
        import random
        random.shuffle(self.cards)
 
    def deal(self, hands, per_hand = 1):
        for rounds in range(per_hand):
            for hand in hands:
                if self.cards:
                    top_card = self.cards[0]
                    self.give(top_card, hand)
                else:
                    print "Can't continue deal. Out of cards!"
 
 
 
if __name__ == "__main__":
    print "This is a module with classes for playing cards."
    raw_input("\n\nPress the enter key to exit.")
 

and finally, here is the games module:

# Games
# Demonstrates module creation
 
class Player(object):
    """ A player for a game. """
    def __init__(self, name, score = 0):
        self.name = name
        self.score = score
 
    def __str__(self):
        rep = self.name + ":\t" + str(self.score)
        return rep
 
 
def ask_yes_no(question):
    """Ask a yes or no question."""
    response = None
    while response not in ("y", "n"):
        response = raw_input(question).lower()
    return response
 
 
def ask_number(question, low, high):
    """Ask for a number within a range."""
    response = None
    while response not in range(low, high):
        response = int(raw_input(question))
    return response
 
 
if __name__ == "__main__":
    print "You ran this module directly (and did not 'import' it)."
    raw_input("\n\nPress the enter key to exit.")
 

I'm sorry if I'm breaking forum etiquitte by posting too much code in here. My main problem with this, at least as far as I can notice, is that I can't figure out how to compare the two hands and then call the win and lose functions of the winner and loser. I have a series of ????? placed in that portion of the code. If anybody could please tell me how this works I would finall be able to get this done! Unless there's some other critical bug in this program...x_X

Thanks!

[bartonc]

Not too much code for the forum. Just too much for me at the moment (not enough coffee). Back soon.

[bvdet]

Add a __cmp__ method to Player to enable sorting a list of Players on the Players' scores:

class Player(object):
    """ A player for a game. """
    def __init__(self, name, score = 0):
        self.name = name
        self.score = score
 
    def __str__(self):
        rep = self.name + ":\t" + str(self.score)
        return rep
 
    def __cmp__(self, other):
        return cmp(self.score, other.score)

You will have to update each Players' 'score' attribute based on the rank of the cards dealt. Sort self.players in War_Game.play():

self.players.sort()

If the last player's score (self.players[-1].score) is equal to the next to last player's score, there is a tie and no one wins. Otherwise, the last player wins and everyone else loses. I have not tested this, but I think it will work.

[Cjllewey369]

wow. Thanks! I'm not at a machine with python on it, so I cannot test that out, but it sounds like it could work. I am not familiar with the _cmp_ method, though, and I don't know what that is doing. If you could explain that to me, that would be nice!

[bvdet]

wow. Thanks! I'm not at a machine with python on it, so I cannot test that out, but it sounds like it could work. I am not familiar with the _cmp_ method, though, and I don't know what that is doing. If you could explain that to me, that would be nice!

'__cmp__' is a special method used by the comparison operators to compare two objects (self, other). If undefined, objects are compared by identity. Alternatively, rich comparison operations can be defined such as '__lt__', '__le__', '__eq__', etc.

[Cjllewey369]

'__cmp__' is a special method used by the comparison operators to compare two objects (self, other). If undefined, objects are compared by identity. Alternatively, rich comparison operations can be defined such as '__lt__', '__le__', '__eq__', etc.

Thanks alot. I'm actually trying to teach myself python out of a book, and I'm familiar with __str__ and __init__, but the __cmp__ special method is new to me.

def __cmp__(self, other):
        return cmp(self.score, other.score)
 

When I use this, and say the self.score is 10 while the other.score is 8, what would the returned value be?

[bvdet]

Thanks alot. I'm actually trying to teach myself python out of a book, and I'm familiar with __str__ and __init__, but the __cmp__ special method is new to me.

def __cmp__(self, other):
        return cmp(self.score, other.score)
 

When I use this, and say the self.score is 10 while the other.score is 8, what would the returned value be?

-1, 0, 1 if <, ==, > respectively. The list sort method interprets the return value transparently. If you want it to sort in reverse order, simply negate the return value.

[Cjllewey369]

Thanks. That's really neat. I'll let you know how it works out for me!