minesweeper.py

import random
import sys

def generate_board(width, height, number_of_mines, debug=False):
    list_of_coords = [(x,y) for x in xrange(width) for y in xrange(height)]
    list_of_mines = random.sample(list_of_coords, number_of_mines)
    if debug: print 'mines:', list_of_mines

    board = [[0] * height for _ in xrange(width)]
    for x, y in list_of_mines:
        board[x][y] = "*"
    if debug: print board

    for mine_x, mine_y in list_of_mines:
        for dx in [-1, 0, 1]:
            for dy in [-1, 0, 1]:
                if dx == 0 and dy == 0:
                    continue
                x, y = mine_x + dx, mine_y + dy
                if not (0 <= x < width and 0 <= y < height):
                    continue
                if board[x][y] == "*":
                    continue
                board[x][y] += 1
    if debug: print board

    for y in xrange(height):
        for x in xrange(width):
            sys.stdout.write(str(board[x][y]))
        print

generate_board(7, 4, 4)