Welcome to the Treehouse Community

Want to collaborate on code errors? Have bugs you need feedback on? Looking for an extra set of eyes on your latest project? Get support with fellow developers, designers, and programmers of all backgrounds and skill levels here with the Treehouse Community! While you're at it, check out some resources Treehouse students have shared here.

Looking to learn something new?

Treehouse offers a seven day free trial for new students. Get access to thousands of hours of content and join thousands of Treehouse students and alumni in the community today.

Start your free trial

Python Python Collections (Retired) Dictionaries Word Count

I have already figured out a way to do this but I am quirious why this code doesn't work

please explain why this code doesnt work and a then explain a way that is close to this that WOULD work if possible. THANK YOU!

word_count.py
# E.g. word_count("I am that I am") gets back a dictionary like:
# {'i': 2, 'am': 2, 'that': 1}
# Lowercase the string to make it easier.
# Using .split() on the sentence will give you a list of words.
# In a for loop of that list, you'll have a word that you can
# check for inclusion in the dict (with "if word in dict"-style syntax).
# Or add it to the dict with something like word_dict[word] = 1.
def word_count(string):
    word_list = string.split()
    word_dict = {}
    count = 1
    for word in word_list:
        if word in word_dict:
            count += 1
            continue
        word_dict[word] = count
        return word_dict
word_count('i am that i am')

1 Answer

Nick Osborne
Nick Osborne
4,612 Points

Hi, I think the problem is that the code is incrementing 1 whenever any word is in the dict already.

Something like this just increments the count for the particular word:

def word_count(string):
    word_list = string.split()
    word_dict = {}    
    for word in word_list:
        if word in word_dict:
            word_dict[word] += 1
            continue
        word_dict[word] = 1
    return word_dict