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Python Python Basics (2015) Shopping List App Refactor

Jt Miller
Jt Miller
1,242 Points
Posted by Jt Miller
Jt Miller
1,242 Points

Been stuck on this challenge for week.

I have been stuck on this challenge for the last week and it's almost to the point where I wanna quit because if I cant fix this how am I supposed to go on to more difficult problems and learn even more difficult sections I don't get what this particular challenge teaches and I'm stuck.

shopping_list.py 
def show_help():
    # print out instructions on how to use the app
    print("What should we pick up at the store?")
    print("""
Enter 'DONE' to stop adding items.
Enter 'HELP' for this help.
Enter 'SHOW' to see your current list.
""")

def show_list(shopping_list):
    # print out the list
    print("Here's your list:")

    for item in shopping_list:
        print(item)

def add_to_list(shopping_list, new_item):
    # add new items to our list
    shopping_list.append(new_item)
    print("Added {}. List now has {} items.".format(new_item, len(shopping_list)))
    return shopping_list

show_help()

# make a list to hold onto our items
shopping_list = []

while True:
    # ask for new items
    new_item = input("> ")

    # be able to quit the app
    if new_item == 'DONE':
        break
    elif new_item == 'HELP':
        show_help()
        continue
    elif new_item == 'SHOW':
        show_list(shopping_list)
        continue
    add_to_list(shopping_list, new_item)

show_list(shopping_list)

1 Answer

Jennifer Nordell
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STAFF
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Jennifer Nordell
Treehouse Teacher
Jennifer Nordell
.a{fill-rule:evenodd;}techdegree
Jennifer Nordell
Treehouse Teacher

Hi there! I wish I knew what you'd tried so far that's failing. I believe the intention of this exercise is to assess your ability to use indentation to build code blocks. Here's how I did it.

On line 22 I put a new blank line. Then I typed: def main():. I used my mouse to click into the beginning of every line and tab indented exactly once on every line all the way down including the last line. Because everything will be indented once, it will all fall inside the main function:

Here were the first few lines of my code:

def main():
    show_help()

    # make a list to hold onto our items
    shopping_list = []

    while True:

And it continues all the way down with everything tabbed over exactly once to the right.

I hope this helps, but let me know if you're still stuck! :sparkles: