Introducing the Pygame and LiveWires Packages

pygame and livewires are sets of modules (called packages) that give Python programmers access to a wide range of multimedia classes. With these classes, you can create programs with graphics, sound effects, music, and animation. You can even play back MPEG movies. The packages also allow input from a variety of devices, including mice, keyboards, joysticks, and trackballs.

pygame is the secret weapon in your media arsenal. Written by Pete Shinners, the package allows you to write impressive, multimedia programs in Python. But because the package is so powerful, it can be a bit overwhelming for the new programmer.

livewires was designed specifically to take advantage of the power of pygame, while reducing the complexity for the programmer. Written by a group of educators in the United Kingdom, livewires is a pygame wrapper (code that provides a simpler interface to other programming code). And even though I won't directly access pygame, it will be there, working hard behind the scenes.

IN THE REAL WORLD

Software wrappers are an important tool in the world of professional programming and can dramatically cut down on the amount of development time for a project. Wrappers exist for different programming areas, including graphics, database management, and networking, to name just a few.

You need to install both pygame and livewires before you can run the programs presented in this chapter. Fortunately, Windows versions of both are included on the CD-ROM that came with this book. Just follow the installation instructions that accompany the packages.

Over the next two chapters, you'll gain a good understanding of the livewires package. In addition, its documentation is included in Appendix A. If you want to learn more about pygame, visit its web site at http://www.pygame.org.

TRAP

Although you're welcome to visit the web site of the LiveWires organization at http://www.livewires.org.uk, be aware that the livewires package used in this book is a modified version of the package that LiveWires created.