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Python Python Basics (Retired) Pick a Number! Any Number! The Solution

Posted by Ryan Lail
Ryan Lail
4,386 Points

How would I make my code carry on if the user enters anything different to an int?

Well I was thinking about making my code carry on and continue asking the user for inputs instead of completely ending the game. Heres my code, is this possible?

import random

number = random.randint(1,10)

correct = False
count = 0
limit = 5

while correct == False:
  count += 1
  user_input = (input("Pick a number between 1 and 10: "))
  try:
    user_input = int(user_input)
  except:
    print("That's not a whole number!")
    break
  if user_input == number:
    print("Congratz. You got it in {} tries".format(count))
    correct = True
  elif user_input < number:
    print("Too low")
  elif user_input > number:
    print("Too high")
  else:
    print("Invalid number")

1 Answer

Charles Lee
Charles Lee
17,825 Points

What you're looking for is the continue keyword instead of break. 

import random

number = random.randint(1,10)

correct = False
count = 0
limit = 5

while not correct:
  count += 1
  user_input = (input("Pick a number between 1 and 10: "))
  try:
    user_input = int(user_input)
  except ValueError:
    print("That's not a whole number!")
    continue # Restarts the outer loop. 
  if user_input == number:
    return "Congratz. You got it in {} tries".format(count)
  elif user_input < number:
    print("Too low")
  elif user_input > number:
    print("Too high")
  else:
    print("Invalid number")

Few changes beyond your question that might be helpful:

  1. Change the condition in the while loop to something more readable.
  2. Explicitly state the exception.
  3. Simply return when the user correctly guesses the number.

Hope this helps. :]

Ryan Lail
Ryan Lail
4,386 Points

Thanks, really helps. Just a few questions though: 1 What does 'Explicitly state the exception' mean? 2 Why is it better to return rather than print once the user correctly guesses the number? 3 What does 'except ValueError' mean? (I assume it has something to do with my first question)

Charles Lee
Charles Lee
17,825 Points

  1. When you use the except statement, it's better practice to state which exceptions you want to catch. By having a 'bare' except, you're potentially letting any exception be caught through it instead of specific ones. Here's a more detailed SO post about explicitly stating exceptions: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/14797375/should-i-always-specify-an-exception-type-in-except-statements

  2. It's not necessarily better, but imagine having this as one method. You want to return from the method instead of printing. However, in this case, you're definitely right for going for the print statement. I think it gets to a point there you start designing everything as a method and calling that method after.

  3. Yes it does. You can read more about the different types of exceptions in Python's docs: https://docs.python.org/3.5/library/exceptions.html#ValueError.

Ryan Lail
Ryan Lail
4,386 Points

Perfect! Thanks. Here's my code now, I think you made it a LOT better!!! :)

import random

number = random.randint(1,10)

count = 0
limit = 5 
correct = False

while not correct:
  count += 1

  if count > limit:                                             #if statement to check if user still has a valid number of tries
    print("Out of tries")
    break

  user_input = (input("Pick a number between 1 and 10: "))

  try:                                                          #try statement to check if input is an int
    user_input = int(user_input)
  except ValueError:
    print("That's not a whole number!")
    continue                                                    #restarts the outer loop

  if not user_input > 0 or not user_input < 11:                 #if not statement to check if input is in valid range
    print("That number isn't between 1 and 10!")
    continue


  if user_input == number:
    print("Congratz. You got it in {} tries".format(count))
    correct = True
  elif user_input < number:
    print("Too low")
  elif user_input > number:
    print("Too high")
Charles Lee
Charles Lee
17,825 Points

Looks pretty good! Small change. 

if not user_input > 0 or not user_input < 11:
  print("That number isn't between 1 and 10!")
  continue

if not 0 < user_input < 11:
  print("That number isn't between 1 and 10!")
  continue

You also want to be careful of floats. int(5.5) still works, but 5.5 wouldn't be a valid whole number.