My First Real Python Project
This was my first real attempt at building an interactive program from scratch. The idea was simple: create a personal chatbot to help me organize tasks and structure my learning notes. I called it M.I.L.O. (Multi-Intelligence Learning Organizer).
Looking back, it's basic. The code is probably a bit clunky compared to my newer stuff. But this project is what got me hooked on building systems that interact with you. It was the "aha" moment that made me want to move beyond simple scripts and into robotics, which eventually led to building the G.I.S.M.O. robot.
You have to start somewhere. This was my start.
M.I.L.O. is a command-line chatbot designed to be a simple productivity assistant. Its core features are:
- Task Management: You can tell it what you need to do, and it organizes tasks and deadlines for you.
- Learning Support: It has features to help you structure notes based on different learning styles.
- Conversational UI: It's designed to be used by talking to it in natural language.
- Modular Code: The code is structured to make it easy to bolt on new features.
It's a straightforward Python project. The focus was on learning the fundamentals of conversational logic and data management, so the stack is simple and clean.
Clone the repo, install the dependencies, and run it.
git clone https://github.com/JamesTheGiblet/M.I.L.O-Chatbot.git
cd M.I.L.O-Chatbot
pip install -r requirements.txt
python milo.py
Perfect is the imaginary friend of never shipped, but if I were to keep working on this, I'd add:
- Voice recognition for hands-free use.
- Better learning algorithms.
- API connections to sync with Google Calendar or other productivity tools.
Building a chatbot is harder than it looks. The real challenge isn't just the code; it's figuring out how people will talk to it and designing the conversational flow to feel natural. This project taught me a ton about state management, user input validation, and the importance of simple, clear design.
Feel free to fork the repo and make it better.
- Fork it.
- Create your feature branch.
- Submit a pull request with a clear description of what you've added.
It's licensed under the MIT License. Do what you want with it.
It's not perfect, but it was a start. The code is the proof of where the journey began. Everyone's got a "first project"—this was mine.