On Sep 23, 8:13 pm, nn <prueba...@latinmail.com> wrote: > On Sep 23, 1:25 pm, Baba <raoul...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > > > On Sep 23, 4:17 pm, nn <prueba...@latinmail.com> wrote: > > > > On Sep 23, 10:56 am, nn <prueba...@latinmail.com> wrote: > > > > > On Sep 22, 6:39 pm, Baba <raoul...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > > > > On Sep 22, 9:18 pm, Baba <raoul...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > > > > > On Sep 22, 3:38 pm, nn <prueba...@latinmail.com> wrote: > > > > > > > > On Sep 21, 6:39 pm, Baba <raoul...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > > > > > > > Hi > > > > > > > > > query level: beginner > > > > > > > > > as part of a learning exercise i have written code that: > > > > > > > > > a) asks for a single letter input (assumption: only 1 letter > > > > > > > > wil be > > > > > > > > entered) > > > > > > > > b) adds that letter to list1 and then goes through list2 and > > > > > > > > checks: > > > > > > > > > 1) if any item in list2 starts with list1 > if False: break > > > > > > > > 2) if list1 == any item in list2 > if True: break > > > > > > > > > c) start again until 2) is True > > > > > > > > > wordlist = ['hello', 'bye'] > > > > > > > > handlist = [] > > > > > > > > letter = raw_input('enter letter: ') > > > > > > > > handlist.append(letter) > > > > > > > > hand = "".join(handlist) > > > > > > > > for item in wordlist: > > > > > > > > if item.startswith(hand): > > > > > > > > while item.startswith(hand): > > > > > > > > if hand not in wordlist: > > > > > > > > letter = raw_input('enter letter: ') > > > > > > > > handlist.append(letter) > > > > > > > > hand = "".join(handlist) > > > > > > > > else: break > > > > > > > > else: break > > > > > > > > print 'you loose' > > > > > > > > > this code works but can it be optimised? i have the feeling > > > > > > > > that my > > > > > > > > nesting of IF, WHILE and FOR statements is overkill? > > > > > > > > > inspired by part IV > > > > > > > > ofhttp://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-computer-scienc... > > > > > > > > > thanks > > > > > > > > Baba > > > > > > > > Yes it is overkill. Especially the else:break from the while loop > > > > > > > makes it difficult to follow the logic. Also the program breaks > > > > > > > down > > > > > > > if I use the following word list: > > > > > > > > wordlist = ['hello', 'hamburger', 'bye'] > > > > > > > > enter letter: h > > > > > > > enter letter: a > > > > > > > you loose > > > > > > > > I am not going to post any spoilers but I wrote your program > > > > > > > using one > > > > > > > while loop and one generator expression for a total of 5 lines. My > > > > > > > version might be a bit too advanced but you should still be able > > > > > > > to do > > > > > > > it using only one while, one for and one if instead. > > > > > > > Hi nn, > > > > > > > i wasn't expecting my code to fail with an additional word in it. > > > > > > While i was conscious that the whole construct was heavy i thought > > > > > > the > > > > > > reasoning worked. I keep looking at it but can't figure out the > > > > > > problem Can you give me a hint? > > > > > > > In the meantime i found out that it is actually possible to > > > > > > populate a > > > > > > string (just like a list, a dictionary or a tuple). Here's what i've > > > > > > got now: > > > > > > > wordlist = ['hello', 'bye'] > > > > > > hand = '' > > > > > > for item in wordlist: > > > > > > if item.startswith(hand): > > > > > > while item.startswith(hand): > > > > > > if hand not in wordlist: > > > > > > hand += raw_input('enter letter: ') > > > > > > print hand > > > > > > else: break > > > > > > else: break > > > > > > print 'you loose' > > > > > > > But i can't figure out why it won't work when adding the extra word. > > > > > > Thanks by the way, it taught me not to be too confident when things > > > > > > SEEM to work... > > > > > > > Why does it work when i use the built-in function any(iterable)?? To > > > > > > me using the any(iterable) function seems just like regrouping 3 > > > > > > lines > > > > > > into one... > > > > > > > wordlist = ['hello','hamburger', 'bye', 'cello'] > > > > > > hand = '' > > > > > > while any(item.startswith(hand) for item in wordlist): > > > > > > if hand not in wordlist: > > > > > > hand += raw_input('enter letter: ') > > > > > > else: break > > > > > > print 'you loose' > > > > > > > thanks > > > > > > > Baba > > > > > > Hi nn, > > > > > > looking at my original code again i realise that having a raw_input > > > > > inside a FOR loop is flawed per se (at least for my purposes) so i > > > > > will just assume that i was taking the wrong approach initially. No > > > > > point in analysing it further. Thanks for your help. > > > > > > Baba > > > > > Since you seem to have figured it out I will post my version (python > > > > 3): > > > > > wordlist = ['hello', 'hamburger', 'bye'] > > > > inp='' > > > > while any(word.startswith(inp) and word!=inp for word in wordlist): > > > > inp += input('enter letter: ') > > > > print('you lose') > > > > > The reason why your original version didn't work was because each time > > > > you add a letter you have to go again over all words (in reality only > > > > a subset is required) and find a new one. Your version would find one > > > > word using the first letter and then exit. > > > > Actually my version isn't right (for some values of right): > > > > wordlist = ['hello', 'hamburger', 'bye'] > > > inp='' > > > while any(word.startswith(inp) for word in wordlist) and (inp not in > > > wordlist): > > > inp += input('enter letter: ') > > > print('you lose') > > > > An explanation of how this changes the rules of the wordgame is left > > > as an exercise to the reader. > > > Hi, > > > for now i will stick to Python2.7 but thank you for sharing. > > > for learning purposes i still want to figure out a way to solve this > > without built-in function ('any' in this case). My understanding was > > that in programming almost anything can be done with IF, FOR and WHILE > > statements. However i turn in circles...:( i understand that in my > > original code my while loop locked me into the first word hello if the > > first letter was 'h' and therefore if the next letter was 'a' it would > > break...so far so good but this appears really tricky to solve...here > > is what i have come up with but it will not exit if for example i > > enter 'x' ... > > > wordlist = ['hello', 'bye'] > > hand = '' > > while hand not in wordlist: > > hand += raw_input('enter letter: ') > > print hand > > for item in wordlist: > > if not item.startswith(hand): > > break > > print 'you lose' > > > but no matter how i turn this around i can't find the magic > > approach...i was thinking about starting the code with something like > > "while (something) is True" ... would that be a right approach? > > > Baba > > This program has 2 problems: > 1.) the break only exits one level: i.e. the for loop > 2.) your logic is backwards. You stop checking as soon as you find the > first mismatch. It should be the other way around: it is invalid only > after testing with all words and not finding any match. > > And yes all of this can be done using just using while, for and if. I > just wrote another version with 1 while, 1 for, 2 ifs, 0 breaks, 0 > any, 0 genexp. This is like doing algebra: you add 2 here, substract 2 > there and the same result comes out. There is an infinite number of > programs that can be written to generate the same output.
wordlist = ['hello', 'hamburger', 'bye', 'foo'] hand = '' check = True while check == True: check = False hand += raw_input('enter letter: ') for item in wordlist: if item.startswith(hand): check = True break if hand in wordlist: break print 'you lose' learning objective achieved :) Thanks for your help! Baba -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list