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 (2016, retired 2019) Dictionaries Word Count

J.R. Wright
J.R. Wright
18,003 Points

This code works when I run it in my own Python shell...why not here?

wordcount.py
# E.g. word_count("I do not like it Sam I Am") gets back a dictionary like:
# {'i': 2, 'do': 1, 'it': 1, 'sam': 1, 'like': 1, 'not': 1, 'am': 1}
# Lowercase the string to make it easier.
def word_count(some_string):
    word_list = some_string.lower().split(' ')
    cdict = {}
    for word in word_list:
        if word in cdict:
            cdict[word] += 1
        else:
            cdict[word] = 1
    return cdict

2 Answers

Steven Parker
Steven Parker
229,744 Points

The challenges test your code with more complex data than shown in sample. The issue is hinted in the message "Bummer: Hmm, didn't get the expected output. Be sure you're lowercasing the string and splitting on all whitespace!"

To split on "all whitespace", leave the argument to "split" empty. Providing a space causes it to split only on individual spaces.

J.R. Wright
J.R. Wright
18,003 Points

Aha, that does make sense, thanks for the reply!