Programming Core | VoidX Academy

Module 16: Mini Projects

Building things that actually work

Project 1 — Calculator Program

A complete command-line calculator with error handling:

def add(a, b): return a + b
def subtract(a, b): return a - b
def multiply(a, b): return a * b
def divide(a, b):
    if b == 0:
        raise ValueError('Cannot divide by zero')
    return a / b

operations = {'+': add, '-': subtract, '*': multiply, '/': divide}

def calculator():
    print('Simple Calculator')
    print('Operations: +  -  * /')
    
    while True:
        try:
            a = float(input('First number (or q to quit): '))
            op = input('Operation: ').strip()
            b = float(input('Second number: '))
            
            if op not in operations:
                print('Unknown operation.')
                continue
            
            result = operations[op](a, b)
            print(f'Result: {a} {op} {b} = {result}')
        
        except ValueError as e:
            print(f'Error: {e}')
        except KeyboardInterrupt:
            print('Goodbye!')
            break

calculator()

Project 2 — To-Do List Application

A persistent to-do list that saves to a file:

import json
import os

FILE = 'todos.json'

def load_todos():
    if os.path.exists(FILE):
        with open(FILE, 'r') as f:
            return json.load(f)
    return []

def save_todos(todos):
    with open(FILE, 'w') as f:
        json.dump(todos, f, indent=2)

def show_todos(todos):
    if not todos:
        print('No tasks yet!')
        return
    for i, task in enumerate(todos, 1):
        status = '[X]' if task['done'] else '[ ]'
        print(f'{i}. {status} {task["text"]}')

todos = load_todos()

while True:
    print('\n1=List  2=Add  3=Complete  4=Delete  5=Quit')
    choice = input('Choose: ').strip()
    
    if choice == '1':
        show_todos(todos)
    elif choice == '2':
        text = input('New task: ')
        todos.append({'text': text, 'done': False})
        save_todos(todos)
    elif choice == '3':
        show_todos(todos)
        n = int(input('Complete task #: ')) - 1
        todos[n]['done'] = True
        save_todos(todos)
    elif choice == '4':
        show_todos(todos)
        n = int(input('Delete task #: ')) - 1
        todos.pop(n)
        save_todos(todos)
    elif choice == '5':
        break

Project 3 — Number Guessing Game

import random

def number_game(min_val=1, max_val=100, max_attempts=7):
    secret = random.randint(min_val, max_val)
    attempts = 0
    
    print(f'Guess a number between {min_val} and {max_val}!')
    print(f'You have {max_attempts} attempts.')
    
    while attempts < max_attempts:
        try:
            guess = int(input(f'Attempt {attempts+1}/{max_attempts}: '))
        except ValueError:
            print('Enter a valid number.')
            continue
        
        attempts += 1
        
        if guess < secret:
            print('Too low!')
        elif guess > secret:
            print('Too high!')
        else:
            print(f'Correct! You got it in {attempts} attempt(s)!')
            return
    
    print(f'Game over! The number was {secret}.')

number_game()

Project 4 — Simple File-Based Project

import csv

def add_student(name, scores):
    avg = sum(scores) / len(scores)
    grade = 'A' if avg >= 90 else 'B' if avg >= 80 else 'C' if avg >= 70 else 'F'
    with open('grades.csv', 'a', newline='') as f:
        writer = csv.writer(f)
        writer.writerow([name, *scores, f'{avg:.1f}', grade])
    print(f'Added {name} — Average: {avg:.1f} ({grade})')

def show_top_students(n=3):
    with open('grades.csv', 'r') as f:
        rows = list(csv.reader(f))
    sorted_rows = sorted(rows, key=lambda r: float(r[-2]), reverse=True)
    print(f'\nTop {n} Students:')
    for row in sorted_rows[:n]:
        print(f'  {row[0]}: {row[-2]} ({row[-1]})')

add_student('Ama', [95, 88, 92, 90])
add_student('Kofi', [78, 82, 75, 80])
add_student('Abena', [99, 95, 98, 97])
show_top_students()

16. Hands-On Mini Projects

Building things that actually work

Project 1 — Calculator Program

Project 2 — To-Do List Application

Project 3 — Number Guessing Game

Project 4 — Simple File-Based Project

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