Forem: Matt.

Change your Windows background by running a python script!

Matt. — Thu, 13 May 2021 08:21:09 +0000

Let's write some fun codes with Python :) Before we get started, be sure to note that this post is only for Windows users! An interesting idea for those who work with Windows.

What do you do if you want to change your desktop background using python? You are probably going to a library or looking for a library, but this does not require a library in Windows, and you can change the background without installing a special library and using ctypes.
In fact, the desktop background can be changed using a commonly used command to change system parameters in ctypes. (let's write the program object-oriented so that our work is clean and orderly.)

import ctypes

class Main:
    def __init__(self):
        path = 'c:/...'
        ctypes.windll.user32.SystemParametersInfoW(20, 0, path , 0)

application = Main()

It is easy to change your desktop wallpaper temporarily by giving the address of the png, jpg, etc. file.
Now let's make the program a little more attractive, suppose we have a folder called "backgrounds" and we want to randomly select an image from it and set it on our desktop background.
First we need to get the address of where the project is now located. We can do this using os and sys

>>> import os
>>> import sys
>>> os.path.abspath(os.path.dirname(sys.argv[0]))
'C:\\Users\\user'

Now just take the "backgrounds" folder and download the files in it and put them in a list. Of course, note that we receive files that end with png, jpg and jpeg, Then select a random item and order it to change the desktop background randomly. (To select a random option from a list we need a random library)


import os
import sys
import ctypes
import random

class Main:
    def __init__(self):
        self.path = os.path.abspath(os.path.dirname(sys.argv[0]))
        for root, directories, files in os.walk(os.path.join(self.path, 'backgrounds')):
            self.backgrounds = [file.lower() for file in files if file.endswith(('.png', '.jpg', '.jpeg'))]

        ctypes.windll.user32.SystemParametersInfoW(20, 0, os.path.join(self.path, 'backgrounds', random.choice(self.backgrounds)) , 0)

application = Main()

We are done! Now we can put the images we want in the "backgrounds" folder and temporarily set a random background on our desktop every time we run this script.

An interesting point!

If you want to run this script automatically when you turn on your computer, you can open the 'run' window with the key combination (win + r) and enter the 'shell: startup'. After entering, a folder will open for you. Just copy the script to this folder. (Every program in this folder runs when you turn on your computer)

Secret input in python, Get input secretly and in a personalized way!

Matt. — Tue, 04 May 2021 19:12:07 +0000

In the Python programming language, we use the input () command to get input from the user, which we all know. But sometimes we want to get the input so that the user actually enters it, but it can not be displayed in command prompt! In these cases, we use the local ‘’getpass‘’ library.
Now we want to write a secret input function together that performs the getpass operation, but makes the appearance of the program more beautiful and hides the entries with a star or the custom display. (Like a password entry in html)

Since we are not allowed to perform an operation when receiving a simple input in Python, let’s use pynput and get the input of the user keyboard
In this short article, I want to make the code of this class available to you, but before that, I will give you a brief description.

How it works?

This class receives your input with pynput and performs the simulation completely with a few simple terms and prints.
The function of this function is such that the user input is received using pynput, but because pynput receives the user input in any place and we only want to receive the input that the user enters in the console, a function to receive the active window in the form of cross We write -platform and using this function, we put the condition in on_press that the inputs are received only in the console.
To display the stars and any other costume characters as input, we must print it with a blank end. But it is not possible to print them using print ()! So we do this using the sys module and the sys.stdout command and print the expressions. Click to read a little about sys.stdout printing.
Until now, inputs are received and a star or any other character is printed while typing! Now we want to make sure that if the character was wrong and we hit backspace, that character will be deleted from the console.
If we pay attention, the inputs that are sent in on_press have a value called char that we can receive the value. But for keys such as Inter, backspace, arrow keys, etc., it is not like this and it is raised. So we bet that if the key entered is equal to pynput.keyboard.Key.backspace, the backup operation will be performed and a return will be made so that the continuation of the function code does not work. Now how to clear the input from the console? Just print the phrase ‘\b \b’ using sys.stdout. To be precise, each \b reverses the input once, but the character is not deleted after that. So we put a space after that to replace the input with a space after that and the character is removed from the user’s view and we go back again with \b once as if there was a backspace in the input once.
Note that if you want to get the show to the user as desired, the user may give a multi-digit show. So multiply the phrase ‘\b \b’ by the number of show characters so that there is no problem.
Done! So far we can type and delete the typed phrase. Be a little careful. If we hit too much backspace, the custom printed prompt will also be deleted. To prevent this, we create a numeric variable called on_char and set its value to 0. For each on_press we add a number to this variable. But we bet on backspace that if this variable is less than or equal to 0, it will retry and the function will not run. This way we can prevent this problem.
So far we have made a show entry! Now we want to receive the user inputs and save them in a variable so that when the user enters the enter key, those saved inputs will be returned. Simply create a self.value in our init class and put the key.char in each on_press, which is equivalent to the user input string character, and in the case of backspace, by converting the self.value to a list, and popping the last character And convert self.value to string again using join, delete the last letters.
Note that for this section, put a try and except because it is possible to enter separation keys that do not have a value of char, so if except, do a simple return.
For when the user enters the enter key, because we turned on the listener by join method and we can not simply stop the listener, so we start the listener in a fan and on_press in the same function. We put that function privately in init so that the user can not use it.
The problem with pynput is that when we press the Enter key, once the phrases we have typed so far are pasted and entered! To prevent this, if the user enters enter, we put an empty getpass.getpass to take this input imperceptibly!
Almost done! Now call the function exactly below init and then return the self.value value in str. For added security, you can delete variables other than self.value with del. The codes of this useful class are available here:

Code

C / C++ or new programming languages?

Matt. — Mon, 15 Mar 2021 15:51:53 +0000

Many people who enter the world of programming, after a while, reach this big dilemma
But why does this question arise in most programmers :
Should I choose C / C++, or other programming languages?
Most programmers like to code with C and C++, because these languages are known as the first modern programming languages, and most of the big successful projects are coded in C or C++
On the other hand, new programming languages are very simple, have useful, functional and powerful libraries and frameworks, and they can also be easily compiled and run!

But which one should we choose in the end?

That's the problem!
C and C++ are the basic languages and you can do almost anything with these two languages, but it's hard and difficult!
New programming languages, including Python and Go, were written in C, but are now one of the best programming languages available today, with many libraries and frameworks available to them.

Let's compare more carefully!

You can also create the best website in the world by using the Django framework in Python! Or even with the Go programming language you can do the same and create the best website in the world

But now you can do this with C or C ++?
I'm not saying it is impossible, but you can't do it easily :)
Because no one has ever done that, No company has ever used C / C++ for create a website!
And for this reason, if you decide to build a website using C or C++, you can! But if you have a problem or need to get some parts of your site ready, unfortunately you will not find a resource on the Internet :) because no one has ever done what you did
But on the other hand, it's good

Challenge yourself!

By doing this, you are actually challenging yourself to solve the errors and problems that you encounter in this way, so if you can solve these problems without the Internet (which are so many problems and not everyone can solve them) You are a great programmer!
Rest assured that no one can solve your problem, because they don't know the logic of your code as well or your coding method, and even if you ask your question on sites like stackoverflow or other forums, you will not get the answer!

Conclusion

C++ is harder, older and faster than newer languages.
Most new languages are usually written in C, but they are very powerful and, of course, easier.
In C, C++, anything is possible, but difficult! If you want to challenge yourself, you can use these two powerful languages. These two languages are also the fastest programming languages, as they are compiled directly into binary.
For example, Python or Go are written in C, so your code is first compiled from (Python, Go, or other languages) into C, and then C into binary. So the speed of these languages is a very small percentage, slower than C and C++.
A programmer who works more with the C and C++ language becomes more accustomed to it, and it becomes easier for him/her to learn new languages and solve problems in other languages. If you want to code modern and classic, you can choose C or C++. But if you want to use new technologies and don't take programming too hard and do not get involved with problems such as the old compiler, etc., you can choose new programming languages and code with them