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Coding

Importing Python Libraries​

On line 3 type the following code to import the time library.

import time

Press enter to start a new line of code.

Creating Variables​

What is a Variable
Think of a variable as a box that stores information that can be used throughout our program. We give variables a descriptive name so we and others can understand what is going on within our program. :

Type the following code to create the steps variable and set it to 0.

steps = 0

Creating the while True loop​

Type the following line of code under steps = 0

while True:

Once you press enter your cursor will automatically indent. Start typing the rest of your code from here.

Adding 1 to Steps​

Let's create the if function to detect when the micro:bit was shaken and add 1 to our steps variable.

if accelerometer.was_gesture('shake'):
    steps += 1

Press Enter and make sure the cursor is lined up with the if statement. (this can normally be done by pressing delete once)

Pausing the Code​

We need to pause our code here or when we try to reset the step counter our program will be running too quickly and not detect the button press.

sleep(500)

This pauses our code for half a second.

Resetting Our Step Counter to 0​

Now that we have got our steps increasing by one when the micro:bit detects it's been shaken. At the start of a new walk or day we will want to start from 0 again.

Let's create some code that will set steps back to 0 when the A button has been pressed.

if button_a.was_pressed():
    steps = 0

Press Enter on your keyboard and make sure that the cursor is back in line with the if statement.

Displaying the Steps​

The last thing we need to do is display the number of steps on the micro:bit LED Matrix.

To do this type:

display.scroll(steps)

Completed Code​

We have now completed our code and it should look like this:

# Imports go at the top
from microbit import *

steps=0

while True:
    if accelerometer.was_gesture('shake'):
        steps += 1
    sleep(500)
    if button_a.was_pressed():
        steps = 0
    display.scroll(steps)

Well done you have now completed the code for the rock, paper scissors game. Let's move on to learn how to download it to the micro:bit.