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This is one of my first steps with GUI. I've tried an implementation of Conway's Game of Life with TkInter. I would appreciate any opinions about my code, especially about the separation of GUI and logic.

import Tkinter as tk
from copy import deepcopy
from random import randrange

def random_fields(width):
    """
    Returns a set of tuples of random integers, eg: set((2,4), (6,1)).

    These tuples are meant as coordiantes.
    The parameter width is the maximum value of x and y.
    """
    fields_alive = width * width // 6
    fields = set()
    for _ in range(fields_alive):
        x = randrange(width)
        y = randrange(width)
        fields.add((x,y))
    return fields

class Field(object):
    """ Represents a field in Game of Life. """
    def __init__(self, x, y):
        """ Constructs a "dead" field at coords x, y """
        self.x = x
        self.y = y
        self.is_alive = False

    def __str__(self):
        return "Field: \n   x: {0}; y: {1}; is_alive: {2}\n".format(self.x, self.y, self.is_alive)

    def change(self):
        """ Changes from dead to alive and vice-versa. """
        if self.is_alive:
            self.is_alive = False
        else:
            self.is_alive = True


class GameOfLifeMatrix(object):
    """
    Represents a matrix in Game of Life and contains the logic.

    The global STARTFIELDS is a dict, with some well known repeating patterns like:
    "blinker" and "toad"
    """
    STARTFIELDS = { "blinker": ((2,1), (2,2), (2,3)),
                    "toad": ((2,2), (3,2), (4,2), (1,3), (2,3), (3,3))
                   }
    def __init__(self, width = 25, start_fields = "random"):
        """ 
        Constructs a new square matrix for Game Of Life. 

        parameters:
        width: integer, the width and height of the matrix
        start_fields, you can provide: 
         - "blinker" or "toad" for the well known patterns
         - "random" to create a random matrix
         - a set of tuples containing specified "alive" coordinates
        """
        if not self.STARTFIELDS.get(start_fields) is None:
            self.start_fields = self.STARTFIELDS[start_fields]
        elif start_fields == "random":
            self.start_fields = random_fields(width)
        else:
            self.start_fields = start_fields

        self.width = width
        self.generation = 0
        self.matrix = list()
        for x in range(width):
            row = list()
            self.matrix.append(row)
            for y in range(width):
                field = Field(x, y)
                if (x, y) in self.start_fields:
                    field.change()
                row.append(field)

    def _should_change(self, field):
        """ Determines if a given field should be changed according to the rules of the game"""
        if (   field.x == 0
            or field.y == 0
            or field.x == self.width - 1
            or field.y == self.width - 1):
            # i.e.: field is at the border -> should not change?
            return False

        alive_neighbours = 0
        for x in range(field.x -1, field.x +2):
            for y in range(field.y -1, field.y +2):
                if x == field.x and y == field.y:
                    # field is not neighbour of itself
                    continue
                if self.matrix[x][y].is_alive:
                    alive_neighbours += 1

        if (not field.is_alive) and alive_neighbours == 3:
            return True
        elif field.is_alive and (alive_neighbours < 2 or alive_neighbours > 3):
            return True
        else:
            return False 

    def next_generation(self):
        """ Evolves the matrix to the next generation. """
        self.generation += 1
        new_matrix = deepcopy(self.matrix)
        for field in self.fields():
            if self._should_change(field):
                new_matrix[field.x][field.y].change()
        self.matrix = new_matrix


    def fields(self):
        """ Generator, yields all fields of the matrix. """
        for row in self.matrix:
            for field in row:
                yield field




class GameOfLifeApp(tk.Frame):
    """ Represents the TkInter-Version of the game """
    def __init__(self, game, generation_interval_ms = 600, color_alive = "#000", color_dead = "#fff"):
        """
        Constructs the TkInter app.

        parameters:
        game: an object of type GameOfLifeMatrix
        generation_interval_ms: integer time in milliseconds to display the next genereation
        color_alive and color_dead: TkInter-color-strings for alive and dead fields
            default dead: white "#fff"; default alive: black "#000"
        """
        self.game = game
        self.generation_interval_ms = generation_interval_ms
        self.color_alive = color_alive
        self.color_dead = color_dead
        self.widgets = dict()
        self.root = tk.Tk()
        tk.Frame.__init__(self, self.root)
        self.grid()

        for field in self.game.fields():
            widget = tk.Label(height = 1, width = 2, bg = self.color_dead, relief = "ridge")
            widget.grid(column = field.x, row = field.y)
            if field.is_alive:
                widget.configure(bg = self.color_alive)
            self.widgets[(field.x, field.y)] = widget

        self.root.after(self.generation_interval_ms, self.draw)


    def draw(self):
        """ Draws the new generation. """
        for field in self.game.fields():
            if field.is_alive:
                self.widgets[(field.x, field.y)].configure(bg = self.color_alive)
            else:
                self.widgets[(field.x, field.y)].configure(bg = self.color_dead)
        self.game.next_generation()
        self.root.after(self.generation_interval_ms, self.draw)


if __name__ == "__main__":

    game = GameOfLifeMatrix()
    app = GameOfLifeApp(game)
    app.mainloop()
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  • \$\begingroup\$ I'd advice you to have a look at youtube.com/watch?v=o9pEzgHorH0 from the 17th minute. \$\endgroup\$
    – SylvainD
    Jun 21, 2013 at 15:49
  • \$\begingroup\$ Yes, i thought about converting "Field" to a dictionary, but i asked myself if that verbosity has any major drawbacks? In fact in this module i tried to be as "readable" as possible \$\endgroup\$ Jun 21, 2013 at 17:12
  • \$\begingroup\$ You might be interested in this answer which uses Pygame instead Tkinter. \$\endgroup\$ Dec 15, 2013 at 14:40

1 Answer 1

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In terms of your specific question, I think you have done a good job of separating out the simulation and the presentation. However, you have a few slightly awkward bits of code:

def change(self):
    """ Changes from dead to alive and vice-versa. """
    if self.is_alive:
        self.is_alive = False
    else:
        self.is_alive = True

could be simplified to

def change(self):
    """ Changes from dead to alive and vice-versa. """
    self.is_alive = not self.is_alive

and

if not self.STARTFIELDS.get(start_fields) is None:

to

if start_fields in self.STARTFIELDS:

and

    self.matrix = list()
    for x in range(width):
        row = list()
        self.matrix.append(row)
        for y in range(width):
            field = Field(x, y)
            if (x, y) in self.start_fields:
                field.change()
            row.append(field)

to

matrix = [[Field(x, y) for y in range(width)] for x in range(width)]
for x, y in self.start_fields:
    matrix[x][y].change()

Your approach to next_generation could be improved; if you made a list of all cells that _should_change, then changed them, you could do it in-place and wouldn't need the deepcopy. Separating out _should_change was a good idea, but you could make more of it.

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