Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
To make sure you know what these random numbers look like, try this out at the
Python Shell:
1. Click on the Python Shell window to bring it to the front.
2. Import the random module so that you can use the built-in random function, by
typing:
import random
3. Ask the program to generate a random number between 1 and 100 and print it
to the screen:
print(random.randint(1,100))
You should see a number between 1 and 100 appear on the screen. Type the print
statement again. What number do you get this time?
4. Now use a for loop to print lots of random numbers. Make sure you indent the
second line so that Python knows that the print statement is part of the for
loop:
for n in range(50):
print(random.randint(1,100))
The two numbers inside the brackets of the randint() function tell it the range of
numbers you want it to generate; 1 is the smallest number you should expect it to gen-
erate, and 100 the largest.
A random number is usually generated from a random number sequence—a
list of numbers designed not to have any obvious pattern or repeating sequence.
Computers are very precise machines and often do not generate truly random
numbers; instead, they generate pseudo-random numbers. These numbers
might seem to be part of a random sequence, but there is a pattern to them. You
can read more about random numbers at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Random_
number_generation and find out more about real random numbers at www.
random.org
Laying the.Carpets
Earlier in this adventure you used an extra number in the setBlocks() function to
make the colour of the woollen carpet red, using the extra data of WOOL . The allowed
range of extra data numbers for WOOL is between 0 and 15—in other words, there are
16 colours you can choose from. Now use the following steps to change your house-
building program to generate a random number and use that as the colour of WOOL for
the carpet in the house:
 
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