Question

Python question:

s = "pizzapizza"
count = 0
i = 1
while i < len(s):
if s[i] > "m":
count = count + 1
i = i + 1
print count


Why is the result 5? I don't get the fifth line, specifically what the "m" refers to and how it can be compared with s[i].. can someone please explain this for me?

Answer 1

Python compares strings according to their order in the alphabet or something; it is detailed here: http://docs.python.org/release/2.5.2/ref/comparisons.html

So in your case, the test in line 5 is checking for characters in the string "pizzapizza" that come after the letter 'm' in the alphabet. So, it evaluates to true whenever s[i] is equal to either 'p' or 'z'

Answer 2

since i is set to 1 before the loop, the first s[i] is the letter 'i' (second letter in 'pizzapizza', so 'count' won't include the first 'p'), and consequently, at the end of the loop, 'count' will be equal to 5

Answer 3

Oh I see, thanks so much for your help! :)