Question

Working on Problem Set #8 / Problem #2 (2008 version of the course)

Specifically, I'm trying to create the ShapeSet class. It's not clear to me what variables to initialize in the def __init__: part of the problem. I think that I need some sort of container to hold the different shapes that I'll be putting into the class. But is it a list? a dictionary? I might be off base here

Answer 1

yep .. you need something to hold all the shapes. you could use one of Python's sequence types or mapping types or set types. You could create your own container - wasn't there a lecture and maybe a chapter in how to think like a comp sci about making a linked list - you could use one of those. The important thing is you need to decide what kind of functionality you need in the container - then choose the right one, or create your own data structure.

How To Think Like a computer Scientist:
chapter 15 is a good read - it is a similar design process
chapter 17 is about linked lists
Appendix B is what this exercise is about - creating new data types

Answer 2

Thanks! The pointer to the "How to Think like a Computer Scientist" did the trick.