The chapter project, Game Over, displays the two most infamous words in computer gaming: "Game Over". Figure 1.1 shows the program in action.
Figure 1.1: The all-too familiar words from a computer game.
Figure 1.1 shows what's called a console window, a window that can display only text. Though not as nice as windows with a Graphical User Interface (GUI), console applications are easier to write and a good place for the beginning programmer to start.
The Game Over program is pretty simple; in fact, it's about the simplest Python program you can write. That is the reason it is presented in this chapter. By completing such a modest program, you cover all the setup work required to start programming in Python, such as installing the language on your system. You also work through the entire process of writing, saving, and running a program. Once you finish all of this groundwork, you'll be ready to tackle larger programs with some real meat to them.
The Game Over program is really just a variation of the traditional Hello World program, which displays the words "Hello World" on the screen. The Hello World program is often the first program a beginning programmer writes in order to dip his or her toe in a new language. It's such a common first program that Hello World is an understood term in the programming world.