So, I wanted to create a simple command-line tool to fetch and display boxer names, maybe eventually their stats too. I figured it’d be a good way to mess around with some basic coding and, you know, learn something new.
Getting Started
First things first, I needed a way to get the boxer names. I thought about scraping a website but decided to keep it super simple initially. I just created a text file, boxer_*, and put a few names in there, one name per line. You know, like:
- Mike Tyson
- Muhammad Ali
- Sugar Ray Leonard
- Floyd Mayweather Jr.
- Manny Pacquiao
Just a basic list to get me going.
The Code (Simple Version)
I decided to use Python because it’s pretty easy to read and write. I opened up my trusty text editor and started typing. The first version of the code was super basic. I just wanted to read the file and print the names to the console.
I used the `open()` function in Python to, well, open the file. Then I used a simple `for` loop to go through each line in the file and `print()` that line. It was something like this (not the exact code, but you get the idea):
I saved that as, like, `boxer_*` or something. Then I ran it from the command line:
`python boxer_*`
Seeing the Results (and Tweaking)
And boom! There they were, the names, printed out one by one. It felt pretty good, even though it was such a small thing. It’s always satisfying to see your code do something, even if it’s just spitting out a list.
Of course, I immediately wanted to make it a little better. I thought, “What if I want to number the names?”. So I messed around with the loop a bit and added a counter variable. I think I used `enumerate()` to get both the index and the name, makes it way more easy. Modified my script, ran it again, and BAM! Numbered list. Awesome.
Next Steps (Future Plans)
That’s pretty much where I’m at now. I added a few more names to the text file, just to make it feel a little more “real”. Eventually, I want to get the data from a proper source, maybe an API if one exists for boxing stats. I also want to add the ability to show more than just the name – weight class, record, that sort of thing. But for now, I’m happy with my little program. It was a fun little project, and I learned a few things along the way. Step by step, right?
