Michael Geary wrote:
> def findx(st):
> d = {'a': 1, 'rty': 4, 'er': 2}
> try:
> item = d[st.lower()]
> except:
> print 'Item not found:', st
> else:
> print 'Item found:', st, item
> return item
What is that bare `except` doing in there?
A general tip - never use a bare except. There are exceptions to the
rule, but you need to really understand why not to use a bare except
before you do.
Also, since you're using a non-changing dictionary, it's best to only
create it once.
OPTIONS = {'a': 1, 'rty': 4, 'er': 2}
def findx (st):
try:
item = OPTIONS[st.lower()]
except KeyError:
print 'Item not found: %s' % (st,)
return None
else:
print 'Item found: %s %s' % (st, item,)
return item
or even better, don't bother catching the exception (I presume you're
only doing it for debugging, as with the printing):
def findx (st):
return OPTIONS[st.lower()]
which of course becomes
OPTIONS[st.lower()]
As stated before, if there's a bug, it's almost certainly in your code
(most likely due to your misinderstanding of something). The Python
builtin types (e.g. dictionary) are *extensively* tested and used and
any such bug would have come to light a long time ago.
Tim Delaney