Drawing and Filling a Star with Different Colors in Python

Drawing geometric shapes, especially stars, and filling them with different colors can be an engaging and educative programming task. Python, with its powerful libraries like Turtle and Matplotlib, provides an excellent platform for such tasks. In this article, we will explore how to draw a five-pointed star and fill it with different colors using Python.

Using Turtle Graphics

Turtle graphics is one of the simplest ways to draw shapes in Python. It’s part of Python’s standard library, making it easily accessible for beginners. Here’s how you can use Turtle to draw and fill a five-pointed star with different colors:

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import turtle

# Set up the screen
screen = turtle.Screen()
screen.bgcolor("white")

# Create a turtle
star_turtle = turtle.Turtle()
star_turtle.speed(10)

# Function to draw a filled star
def draw_filled_star(turtle, size, color):
    turtle.fillcolor(color)
    turtle.begin_fill()
    for _ in range(5):
        turtle.forward(size)
        turtle.right(144)
    turtle.end_fill()

# Drawing the star
draw_filled_star(star_turtle, 100, "blue")

# Hide the turtle cursor
star_turtle.hideturtle()

# Keep the window open
turtle.done()

This code snippet creates a simple five-pointed star filled with blue color. You can change the color by modifying the color parameter in the draw_filled_star function.

Using Matplotlib

While Turtle is great for simple graphics and educational purposes, Matplotlib offers more advanced plotting capabilities. Here’s how you can draw and fill a star with Matplotlib:

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import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import matplotlib.patches as patches
import numpy as np

# Create a figure and an axes
fig, ax = plt.subplots()

# Function to generate the vertices of a star
def star_vertices(center_x, center_y, size, n_points=5):
    outer_circle = np.linspace(0, 2 * np.pi, n_points + 1)
    inner_circle = np.linspace(np.pi / n_points, 2 * np.pi - np.pi / n_points, n_points)
    
    vertices_x = np.concatenate((size * np.cos(outer_circle)[:-1], size / 2 * np.cos(inner_circle))) + center_x
    vertices_y = np.concatenate((size * np.sin(outer_circle)[:-1], size / 2 * np.sin(inner_circle))) + center_y
    
    return vertices_x, vertices_y

# Get the vertices of the star
vertices_x, vertices_y = star_vertices(0.5, 0.5, 0.2)

# Create a polygon from the vertices
star = patches.Polygon(np.column_stack([vertices_x, vertices_y]), closed=True, edgecolor='black', facecolor='red')

# Add the polygon to the axes
ax.add_patch(star)

# Show the plot
plt.show()

This code generates a five-pointed star and fills it with red color. You can change the color by modifying the facecolor parameter in the patches.Polygon function.

Drawing and filling shapes with colors in Python is not only fun but also educational, especially for those learning programming. It helps in understanding basic programming concepts like functions, loops, and libraries.

[tags]
Python, Drawing, Shapes, Stars, Turtle, Matplotlib, Colors, Programming