Question

UPDATED RE: ps5_ghost Did anyone use just a binary search?
I think I've been looking at it too long. I can't figure out what to do when a word in the list starts with the fragment (the users' string).
_________
Well, I figured it out finally. The fragment is always less than any word starting with it, so when I was doing the binary search, I was left with 2 alternatives that did not include words starting with the fragment. Anyway, here is the search part of my program for anyone going the same route!
http://pastebin.com/PXpvB1Qr

Answer 1

@dbwonders, I was working on the same problem but couldn't figure out how to check if a word in the list starts with the fragment. Your solution was really helpful :). I am however confused with the line:
elif fragment(frag, wordlist[last+1]) == False:

While it works in most of the cases, it might not work in some. For instance if the fragment is "zz" (if you accept "zzz" as a word).

Answer 2

You are right. zzz is the last word of the wordlist as well as wordlist[last], so wordlist[last+1] is out of range. I added:
elif wordlist[last]==wordlist[-1]:
if fragment(frag,wordlist[last]) == False: return False
to catch that exception--which I hope is the only one! Well spotted...Cheers.

Answer 3

Great, it works. :) Also I tested this code with a word list of just 26 words (each word starting with a unique letter from a-z). In that case, wordlist[last+1] wont work coz the next word begins with a unique letter and the output will be something like, "Player 1 loses because no word begins with B". (If you start with "b", wordlist[last+1] would be "cat"). So, I made the following addition:
elif fragment(frag, wordlist[last+1]) == False and fragment(frag,wordlist[last])==False:
return False
This way the code should work regardless of the list you use.
I have attached the word list with 26 words below.

Answer 4

I just realized, there's still something missing in the previous change I mentioned. For example, if the players enter character in the order AZYGOUS, there will be an error. In this case, the output looks like this:
4622 4623 ba azygou
4622 azygous
Player 2 loses because no word begins with AZYGOU

Neither wordlist[last] nor wordlist[last+1] begin with AZYGOU. But, wordlist[mid] does. So, the previous piece of code should be:
elif fragment(frag, wordlist[last+1]) == False and fragment(frag,wordlist[last])==False and fragment(frag,wordlist[mid])==False:
return False

Answer 5

Makes for an awfully long line, doesn't it? Funny thing is, I distinctly remember having the wordlist[mid] in my code, then taking it out because I couldn't remember why I had it there in the first place! The wordlist[last] was a good catch...makes perfect sense. Lesson learned:
better notes and better testing next time....Thanks

Answer 6

Yeah it's quite long but works(hopefully) for every possible condition. :)