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Engineering LibreTexts

7.7: The Event Handling Loop

  • Page ID
    14559
    \( \newcommand{\vecs}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \) \( \newcommand{\vecd}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash {#1}}} \)\(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)\(\newcommand{\AA}{\unicode[.8,0]{x212B}}\)

        while True: # main game loop
            for event in pygame.event.get(): # event handling loop
                if event.type == QUIT:
                    terminate()
                elif event.type == KEYDOWN:
                    if (event.key == K_LEFT or event.key == K_a) and direction != RIGHT:
                        direction = LEFT
                    elif (event.key == K_RIGHT or event.key == K_d) and direction != LEFT:
                        direction = RIGHT
                    elif (event.key == K_UP or event.key == K_w) and direction != DOWN:
                        direction = UP
                    elif (event.key == K_DOWN or event.key == K_s) and direction != UP:
                        direction = DOWN
                    elif event.key == K_ESCAPE:
                        terminate()
    

    Line 1 [61] is the start of the main game loop and line 2 [62] is the start of the event handling loop. If the event is a QUIT event, then we call terminate() (which we’ve defined the same as the terminate() function in the previous game programs).

    Otherwise, if the event is a KEYDOWN event, then we check if the key that was pressed down is an arrow key or a WASD key. We want an additional check so that the worm does not turn in on itself. For example, if the worm is moving left, then if the player accidentally presses the right arrow key, the worm would immediate start going right and crash into itself.

    That is why we have this check for the current value of the direction variable. That way, if the player accidentally presses an arrow key that would cause them to immediately crash the worm, we just ignore that key press.


    This page titled 7.7: The Event Handling Loop is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Al Sweigart via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform; a detailed edit history is available upon request.

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