variables in string.count

[Scott David Daniels]

Matteo Dell'Amico wrote:
... (good stuff)...
> I'd code it like this:
> 
> while secret:
>     print
>     letter = raw_input("What letter? ").lower()
>     # we probably should do something to make sure len(letter) == 1
>     if letter not in secret:
>         print "Try again!"
>     else:
>         secret = secret.replace(letter, '', 1)

Exceptions are your friend, don't ask permission:

     def tests(secret):
         parts = list(secret.lower())
         while parts:
             reply = raw_input("What letter(s)? ")
             for letter in reply:
                 try:
                     parts.remove(letter.lower())
                 except ValueError:
                     print "%r not found" % letter
             if parts:
                 print len(parts), 'letters left; try again.'


-- 
-Scott David Daniels
Scott.Daniels at Acm.Org