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Python Python Collections (2016, retired 2019) Lists Disemvowel

Posted by kali kali
kali kali
Courses Plus Student 632 Points

Improve this code?

Hello,

How could I improve this code? Mine is pretty long...

Thank you for your answers :)

disemvowel.py 
def disemvowel(word):
    l = list(word)
    test = True
    while (test == True):
        try:
            l.remove('a')
        except ValueError:
            test = False
    test = True
    while (test == True):
        try:
            l.remove('e')
        except ValueError:
            test = False
    test = True
    while (test == True):
        try:
            l.remove('i')
        except ValueError:
            test = False
    test = True
    while (test == True):
        try:
            l.remove('o')
        except ValueError:
            test = False
    test = True
    while (test == True):
        try:
            l.remove('u')
        except ValueError:
            test = False
    test = True
    while (test == True):
        try:
            l.remove('A')
        except ValueError:
            test = False
    test = True
    while (test == True):
        try:
            l.remove('E')
        except ValueError:
            test = False
    test = True
    while (test == True):
        try:
            l.remove('I')
        except ValueError:
            test = False
    test = True
    while (test == True):
        try:
            l.remove('O')
        except ValueError:
            test = False
    test = True
    while (test == True):
        try:
            l.remove('U')
        except ValueError:
            test = False
    word = ""
    for i in range (len(l)):
        word += l[i]
    return word

3 Answers

Alexander Davison
Alexander Davison
65,469 Points

The shortest possible way I can think of is a whopping two lines of code. I used Python's List Comprehensions to accomplish this:

def disemvowel(word):
    return ''.join([letter for letter in word if letter.lower() not in 'aeiou'])

If I was coding though, this is a little confusing and I'd avoid trying to use such a long list comprehension.

Matthew Connolly
seal-mask
.a{fill-rule:evenodd;}techdegree
Matthew Connolly
iOS Development Techdegree Student 11,595 Points
Matthew Connolly
.a{fill-rule:evenodd;}techdegree
Matthew Connolly
iOS Development Techdegree Student 11,595 Points

Alexander, you're right! Don't need to make a list to compare against - thanks for pointing that out. Going to update my file now.

Love the simplicity of your TWO LINE code implementation.

Alexander Davison
Alexander Davison
65,469 Points

REPEAT: If I was coding, I wouldn't use this method because it can be very confusing. Python was meant to be easily readable. :)

If I were coding on something, I would use something like your method.

Matthew Connolly
seal-mask
.a{fill-rule:evenodd;}techdegree
Matthew Connolly
iOS Development Techdegree Student 11,595 Points
Matthew Connolly
.a{fill-rule:evenodd;}techdegree
Matthew Connolly
iOS Development Techdegree Student 11,595 Points

Hey Kali,

Here's an example of what I put together for disemvowel. The key to shortening up you code is to use an in statement. Instead of removing the letter, I just checked it wasn't a vowel and added it to a new variable.

def disemvowel(word):
    new_word = ''    
    for letter in word:
        # edited this line of code from "if letter in ['a','e','i','o','u']"
        if letter in 'aeiouAEIOU':
            pass
        else:
            new_word += letter
    return new_word

Edited: per Alexander's suggestions, compared letter against a string instead of a list and included checks for uppercase letters.

Alexander Davison
Alexander Davison
65,469 Points

Your code doesn't also check the uppercase "AEIOU" and also you don't need to make a list. This is also valid Python:

I'm in the Python shell

>>> 'a' in 'aeiouAEIOU'
True
>>> 'f' in 'aeiouAEIOU'
False
olegovich7
olegovich7
6,605 Points
olegovich7
olegovich7
6,605 Points

you could use something like: 

word = list(word)
for vowel in word:
    if word.lower() in "aeiou":
        word.remove(vowel)
kali kali
kali kali
Courses Plus Student 632 Points

It doesn't compile, word.lower() can't exist since word is a list

Alexander Davison
Alexander Davison
65,469 Points

You should always test your code before posting. In this situation your code causes an error because you can't call "lower" on a list as Kali has said.