Game of Life in terminal

gof.py

"""

How to run:

$ python gof.py &
$ watch -n 0.1 cat epoch.txt

"""

import time
import random
from array import array


class GameOfLife:
    def __init__(self, cols=10, rows=10):
        self._cols = cols
        self._rows = rows
        self._matrix = self._generate()

    def _generate(self):
        matrix = []
        for _ in range(self._cols):
            row = array("b", [bool(random.getrandbits(1)) for _ in range(self._rows)])
            matrix.append(row)
        return matrix

    def _get_number_of_neighbours(self, pos_i, pos_j):
        number_of_neighbours = 0
        for i in range(pos_i - 1, pos_i + 2):
            for j in range(pos_j - 1, pos_j + 2):
                if i == pos_i and j == pos_j:
                    continue
                if i < 0:
                    i += self._cols
                if j < 0:
                    j += self._rows
                if i > 7:
                    i -= self._cols
                if j > 7:
                    j -= self._rows
                number_of_neighbours += self._matrix[i][j]
        return number_of_neighbours

    def _determine_liveness(self, on, num_neighbours):
        if on:
            if num_neighbours < 2:
                return False
            if 2 <= num_neighbours <= 3:
                return True
            if num_neighbours > 3:
                return False
        return num_neighbours == 3

    def regenerate(self):
        self._matrix = self._generate()

    def run_epoch(self):
        new_matrix = [array("b", [False] * self._rows) for _ in range(self._cols)]
        for i, row in enumerate(self._matrix):
            for j, on in enumerate(row):
                num_neighbours = self._get_number_of_neighbours(i, j)
                new_matrix[i][j] = self._determine_liveness(on, num_neighbours)

        self._matrix = new_matrix

    def write(self):
        with open("epoch.txt", encoding="utf-8", mode="w") as fd:
            fd.write(
                "".join(
                    ("".join(("◼" if row else " ") for row in rows) + "\n")
                    for rows in self._matrix
                )
            )


gof = GameOfLife(100, 200)

while True:
    gof.write()
    gof.run_epoch()
    time.sleep(0.1)