Question

HI - I'm very new to computer programming and I cant even get through Problem set 1 by looking at the solution that is provided! why is it that when I enter minMonthlyPaymentRate it's gives me syntax error? i guess it makes sense cause it's not correct per say, but that's how they do it according to the solution. please help:)

Answer 1

you may be missing ' ' give me an example of what you have written

Answer 2

minMonthlyPaymentRate = float(raw_input("enter minimum monthly payment rate")

Answer 3

it's just giving a syntax error message for the left side of the equal sign

Answer 4

== the product is equal to. give this a try..how mine is written

Answer 5

You may also be missing a close bracket at the end of that line (note: brackets are also called parenthesis).

The easiest way for us to figure out a problem you're having is to post all of the code here (make sure that the spacing is right!). It also helps to see the specific error python gave you.

Answer 6

##heres how i figured this out..very unorthodox and kinda cheating but it works::
x=float(raw_input('Outstanding balance:'))
y=float(raw_input('Monthly interest rate:'))
if x*y % 95.83:
print 'Minimum monthly payment: 95.83'

this is only what i did playing around with the idea..not really what should happen!!!!

Answer 7

original_balance = float(raw_input("Enter the outstanding balance on your credit card: "))
interest_rate = float(raw_input("Enter the annual credit card interest rate as a decimal: "))
balance = original_balance
low_payment = balance/12
high_payment = (balance*(1+(interest_rate/12))**12)/12
while True:
balance = original_balance
monthly_payment = (low_payment + high_payment)/2
for month in range(1,13):
interest = round(balance*interest_rate/12, 2)
balance += interest - monthly_payment
if balance <= 0:
break

if (high_payment - low_payment < 0.005):
print "RESULT"
monthly_payment = round(monthly_payment + 0.004999, 2)
print "Monthly payment to pay off debt in 1 year:", round(monthly_payment,2)
balance = original_balance
for month in range(1,13):
interest = round(balance*interest_rate/12, 2)
balance += interest - monthly_payment
if balance <= 0:
break
print "Number of months needed:", month
print "Balance:", round(balance,2)
break
elif balance < 0:
high_payment = monthly_payment
else:
low_payment = monthly_payment

If completed correctly this is how the script should look.

Answer 8

please use a code pasting site - it makes it easier for everyone to refer to it (don't forget to enable syntax highlighting)
http://dpaste.com
http://pastebin.com
(there are others)

http://www.pythontutor.com/ is a good debugging tool

Answer 9

@Mal.bengt you are definitely missing a closing paren in that line you posted