Question

just finished solution to MIT-6.00SC PS01a—moving on to PS01b, and PS01c. but if anyone has the inclination, please give feedback.. the code is posted at pastebin . as my first python script, i'm sure the code could use refinement—the currency/float point issue alone, is problematic, and a good topic for research! thx, --mazal 2013.12.27 update: url updated to reflect code changes, from feedback.

Answer 1

shout out @LT_Forest for tip to build solution in excel—saved hours of grief!!

Answer 2

I deliberately built it manually in excel to force myself to go through each iteration of the loop in my head until completion. It gave me a sense of how the computer would solve the problem and allowed me to think about how the objects would point to one another after each step. It was a very useful exercise for me in helping to build the logic necessary to start the project.

I have attached the file here. Hopefully it helps.

Answer 3

i concur! and used it to build pseudo code right into the spread sheet. thanks for sharing, here's mine.

cheers

Answer 4

yours is much prettier and complete than mine :>)

Answer 5

@mazal: Your code is very readable and structured. The only thing, I found, that might be improved is the counting of the months. You have the variable "month" and the variable "num" from the for loop, You need only one of them.

Answer 6

@doxanthropos, excellent. ahh.. so, my for loop can recycle the same 'month' object(?) ?

```
for month in range(1,13):
balance = float(remaining_balance)
min_mo_pay = float(min_mo_pay_rate * balance)
interest_pd = float(an_interest_rate/12) * float(balance)
…etc.
```

is this what you meant? i changed it, and seems to work fine.
: )

Answer 7

That's exactly what I meant. The for-loop is providing you with this incrementing variable, so why not use it? ;)