Lecture Notes: Building a Morse Code Translator with ChatGPT and VS Code

Introduction

• Topic: Using ChatGPT and VS Code to create a Morse code translator with no prior programming knowledge.
• Goal: Show that programming with ChatGPT is easy and fulfilling.
• Method: ChatGPT guides project selection and coding process.

Project Selection

1. Requested 10 project ideas from ChatGPT for Python projects.
2. Chosen Project: Morse code translator.
3. Project Outline: Simplified and discussed details of what the project would look like.

Setting Up the Environment

1. VS Code Setup: Ensured VS Code is ready and Python is installed.
2. Custom Instructions: Created custom instructions for ChatGPT explaining the project goal and preferences.
   • Avoid revealing complete solutions, give hints and explanations with comments.

Implementation Steps

Step 1: Project Setup

• Open VS Code: Start a new Python project in an empty VS Code environment.
• Documentation: Add project goals and outline as comments in code.

Step 2: Creating Dictionaries

• English to Morse Dictionary: Utilize dictionary data structure to map English characters to Morse code equivalents.
• Complete Mapping: Add complete alphabet and numbers, and suggested adding a space character.
• Using Vision from ChatGPT: Used ChatGPT Vision to quickly scan and generate required mappings.

Step 3: Getting User Input

• Using input() Function: Get user input and store it in a variable.

Step 4: Writing the Translate Function

• Function Definition: Created a function translate(text) to convert input text into Morse code.
• Handling Text:
  • Convert entire text to uppercase.
  • Initialize an empty string to store Morse code results.
  • Loop through each character in text.
  • Update Morse string using dictionary mappings.
• Handling Spaces: Special handling for spaces to distinguish between letters and words.
• Error Handling: Catch invalid characters not mapped in Morse code using try-except blocks.
• Return and Test: Return the translated Morse string and print the result.

Testing and Debugging

• Testing Scenarios: Various inputs tested, including valid text and invalid special characters.
• Updating Mappings: Added special characters mappings based on further tests.
• Error Handling: Implemented better error handling and user feedback.

Finalizing and Improving

• Extending Functionality: Possible future work includes converting Morse to English, adding a GUI, or integrating sound.
• Code Management: Pushed project to a GitHub repository for public access and further modifications.

Key Takeaways

• Power of ChatGPT: AI can completely guide beginners through complex programming projects step by step.
• Learning by Doing: Each coding step was an opportunity to learn about syntax, logic, and error handling in Python.
• Ease of Use: ChatGPT can simplify and enhance the learning curve significantly for new programmers.