Converting a program from FreeBASIC to Python: globalizing variables

In a previous post, I was told I am coding in Python like you would in BASIC (I am not "thinking" in Python yet). This is probably true and this is why I need help. This being said, I have read one book about Python so far (Bytes of Python), I bought two more books online (one of which is Invent with Python, which I am reading) and I did many tutorials from The New Boston. Still, my question might sound newbie-ish to you.

In FreeBasic, variables are all globalized. In Python, I have to globalize them for every single new function I create. This isn't very practical. So what am I expected to do? How would a "native Python speaker" tackle this problem? Below you'll find a small program I have created where I globalize in all my variables inside functions.

#-*- coding: iso8859_1 -*-

import random

ca1 = 10
ca2 = 10
taco = 20
pv1 = random.randint(1,10)
pv2 = random.randint(1,10)
cnt = 0
pv1Dep = pv1
pv2Dep = pv2
ast = "*" * 7
d20_1 = random.randint(1,20)
d8_1 = random.randint(1,8)
d20_2 = random.randint(1,20)
d8_2 = random.randint(1,8)

def intro():
    global ca1
    global ca2
    global taco
    global pv1
    global pv2
    global cnt
    global pv1Dep
    global pv2Dep
    global d20_1
    global d8_1
    global d20_2
    global d8_2


    print "Imaginez deux guerriers de D&D 2e édition qui se battent."
    print
    print "Guerrier 1: " + str(pv1) + " PV, épée longue (1-8 points de dégât), TACO de 20, CA de " + str(ca1) + "."
    print "Guerrier 2: " + str(pv2) + " PV, épée longue (1-8 points de dégât), TACO de 20, CA de " + str(ca2) + "."
    print

def nouveauCombat():
    global ca1
    global ca2
    global taco
    global pv1
    global pv2
    global cnt
    global pv1Dep
    global pv2Dep
    global d20_1
    global d8_1
    global d20_2
    global d8_2

    print ast + "NOUVEAU COMBAT" + ast
    print
    while ((pv1 > 0) and (pv2 > 0)):
        cnt = cnt + 1
        print ast + "ROUND " + str(cnt) + ": INITIATIVE" + ast
        print
        calcInitiative()
        print
    print ast + "RESULTAT" + ast
    print
    resultat()

def calcInitiative():
    global ca1
    global ca2
    global taco
    global pv1
    global pv2
    global cnt
    global pv1Dep
    global pv2Dep
    global d20_1
    global d8_1
    global d20_2
    global d8_2

    initiative1 = random.randint(1,10)
    initiative2 = random.randint(1,10)
    print "Le guerrier 1 fait son jet d'initiative."
    print str(initiative1) + "!"
    print
    print "Le guerrier 2 fait son jet d'initiative."
    print str(initiative2) + "!"
    print
    if initiative1 == initiative2:
        print "Les deux guerriers attaquent au même moment."
        print
        print ast + "ROUND " + str(cnt) + ": ATTAQUE" + ast
        print
        attaque1()
        print
        attaque2()
    elif initiative1 < initiative2:
        print "Le guerrier 1 attaque en premier."
        print
        print ast + "ROUND " + str(cnt) + ": ATTAQUE" + ast
        print
        attaque1()
        print
        if pv2 > 0:
            print
            attaque2()
    else:
        print "Le guerrier 2 attaque en premier."
        print
        print ast + "ROUND " + str(cnt) + ": ATTAQUE" + ast
        print
        attaque2()
        print
        if pv1 > 0:
            print
            attaque2()

def attaque1():
    开发者_运维问答global ca1
    global ca2
    global taco
    global pv1
    global pv2
    global cnt
    global pv1Dep
    global pv2Dep
    global d20_1
    global d8_1
    global d20_2
    global d8_2

    print "Le guerrier 1 fait son jet de toucher."
    print str(d20_1) + "!"
    if d20_1 >= ca2:
        print "Touché!"
        pv2 = pv2 - d8_1
        print str(d8_1) + " points de dégât!"
        print "Le guerrier 2 est à " + str(pv2) + "/" + str(pv2Dep) + " PV!"
    else:
        print "Raté!"

def attaque2():
    global ca1
    global ca2
    global taco
    global pv1
    global pv2
    global cnt
    global pv1Dep
    global pv2Dep
    global d20_1
    global d8_1
    global d20_2
    global d8_2

    print "Le guerrier 2 fait son jet de toucher."
    print str(d20_2) + "!"
    if d20_2 >= ca1:
        print "Touché!"
        pv1 = pv1 - d8_2
        print str(d8_2) + " points de dégât!"
        print "Le guerrier 1 est à " + str(pv1) + "/" + str(pv1Dep) + " PV!"
    else:
        print "Raté!"

def resultat():
    global ca1
    global ca2
    global taco
    global pv1
    global pv2
    global cnt
    global pv1Dep
    global pv2Dep
    global d20_1
    global d8_1
    global d20_2
    global d8_2

    print "Le combat prend fin au round " + str(cnt) + "."
    print

    if pv1 == pv1Dep:
        print "Le guerrier 1 n'a pas la moindre égratignure."
    elif pv1 > 0:
        print "Le guerrier 1 est blessé."
    else:
        print "Le guerrier 1 est mort."

    print "Il finit le combat avec " + str(pv1) + "/" +str (pv1Dep) + " PV."
    print

    if pv2 == pv2Dep:
        print "Le guerrier 2 n'a pas la moindre égratignure."
    elif pv2 > 0:
        print "Le guerrier 2 est blessé."
    else:
        print "Le guerrier 2 est mort."

    print "Il finit le combat avec " + str(pv2) + "/" +str (pv2Dep) + " PV."
    print

intro()
nouveauCombat()

---

You don't need to declare a name as global unless you are going to assign to it.

a = 1
b = 2
def foo():
    global b
    print a # prints 1
    b = 3
foo()
print b # prints 3

---

I've reorganized your program to show you the basics of object oriented programming. You need to learn about classes and objects. You should also look at string formatting for the right way to put strings together.

Basically, you create two player objects, and then create a combat object for those two players. Then, you call methods on the combat object in order to actually do the combat. self is how an instance of a class refers to itself. Any good Python tutorial should teach you about all of these things.

The only remaining global variable is a constant, ast. Global constants can occasionally be OK.

#-*- coding: iso8859_1 -*-
import random
ast = "*" * 7

class Player(object):
    def __init__(self, num, ca):
        self.ca = ca
        self.num = num
        self.pv = random.randint(1,10)
        self.d20 = random.randint(1,20)
        self.d8 = random.randint(1,8)
        self.pvDep= self.pv

class Combat(object):
    def __init__(self, player1, player2):
        self.player1 = player1
        self.player2 = player2
        self.cnt = 0

    def intro(self):
        print "Imaginez deux guerriers de D&D 2e édition qui se battent."
        print
        print "Guerrier 1: " + str(player1.pv) + " PV, épée longue (1-8 points de dégât), TACO de 20, CA de " + str(player1.ca) + "."
        print "Guerrier 2: " + str(player2.pv) + " PV, épée longue (1-8 points de dégât), TACO de 20, CA de " + str(player2.ca) + "."
        print

    def nouveauCombat(self):
        print ast + "NOUVEAU COMBAT" + ast
        print
        while ((self.player1.pv > 0) and (self.player2.pv > 0)):
            self.cnt = self.cnt + 1
            print ast + "ROUND " + str(self.cnt) + ": INITIATIVE" + ast
            print
            self.calcInitiative()
            print
        print ast + "RESULTAT" + ast
        print
        self.resultat()

    def calcInitiative(self):
        initiative1 = random.randint(1,10)
        initiative2 = random.randint(1,10)
        print "Le guerrier 1 fait son jet d'initiative."
        print str(initiative1) + "!"
        print
        print "Le guerrier 2 fait son jet d'initiative."
        print str(initiative2) + "!"
        print
        if initiative1 == initiative2:
            print "Les deux guerriers attaquent au même moment."
            print
            print ast + "ROUND " + str(self.cnt) + ": ATTAQUE" + ast
            print
            self.attaque(self.player1, self.player2)
            print
            self.attaque(self.player2, self.player1)
        elif initiative1 < initiative2:
            print "Le guerrier 1 attaque en premier."
            print
            print ast + "ROUND " + str(self.cnt) + ": ATTAQUE" + ast
            print
            self.attaque(self.player1, self.player2)
            print
            if self.player2.pv > 0:
                print
                self.attaque(self.player2, self.player1)
        else:
            print "Le guerrier 2 attaque en premier."
            print
            print ast + "ROUND " + str(self.cnt) + ": ATTAQUE" + ast
            print
            self.attaque(self.player2, self.player1)
            print
            if self.player1.pv > 0:
                print
                self.attaque(self.player1, self.player2)

    def attaque(self, player1, player2):
        print "Le guerrier" + str(player1.num) + " fait son jet de toucher."
        print str(player1.d20) + "!"
        if player1.d20 >= player2.ca:
            print "Touché!"
            player2.pv = player2.pv - player1.d8
            print str(player1.d8) + " points de dégât!"
            print "Le guerrier 2 est à " + str(player2.pv) + "/" + str(player2.pvDep) + " PV!"
        else:
            print "Raté!"

    def resultat(self):
        print "Le combat prend fin au round " + str(self.cnt) + "."
        print

        if player1.pv == player1.pvDep:
            print "Le guerrier 1 n'a pas la moindre égratignure."
        elif player1.pv > 0:
            print "Le guerrier 1 est blessé."
        else:
            print "Le guerrier 1 est mort."

        print "Il finit le combat avec " + str(player1.pv) + "/" +str (player1.pvDep) + " PV."
        print

        if player2.pv == player2.pvDep:
            print "Le guerrier 2 n'a pas la moindre égratignure."
        elif player2.pv > 0:
            print "Le guerrier 2 est blessé."
        else:
            print "Le guerrier 2 est mort."

        print "Il finit le combat avec " + str(player2.pv) + "/" +str (player2.pvDep) + " PV."
        print


player1 = Player(1, 10)
player2 = Player(2, 10)
combat = Combat(player1, player2)
combat.intro()
combat.nouveauCombat()

---

In python, as in many modern languages, prolific use of global variables is considered an anti-pattern. There are lots of reasons why:

• it obstructs function reentrancy, which is important for efficient multi-threaded code.
• it makes unit testing harder, which is helpful on medium to large projects
• it makes modules more interdependent, which makes it harder to track down problems and to fix them once they are found.

You should endevor to pass the data each function needs:

def foo():
    bar = 10
    baz(bar)

def baz(bar):
    print bar

If you need to capture state from one function to the next, you can wrap that into a class.

class quux(object):
    def __init__(self):
        self.a = 1
        self.b = "two"

def foo():
    bar = quux()
    baz(bar)
    print bar.a, bar.b

def baz(bar):
    bar.a = len(bar.b)

In summary, You almost never need globals, but in many cases, you need to have something that is not global.

---

Global variables by default are widely (universally?) considered a design flaw. If you want to write "Pythonic" code, you should strive to have the smallest possible amount of global state.