lists and list item matches (ghost wodgame)

[Baba]

On Sep 23, 4:17 pm, nn <prueba... at latinmail.com> wrote:
> On Sep 23, 10:56 am, nn <prueba... at latinmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
> > On Sep 22, 6:39 pm, Baba <raoul... at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > > On Sep 22, 9:18 pm, Baba <raoul... at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > > > On Sep 22, 3:38 pm, nn <prueba... at latinmail.com> wrote:
>
> > > > > On Sep 21, 6:39 pm, Baba <raoul... at 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