Using return play(done=False) instead of just calling play(done=False)?

Question

def play(done): clear() secret_word = random.choice(words) bad_guesses = [] good_guesses = []

while True:
    draw(bad_guesses, good_guesses, secret_word)
    guess = get_guess(bad_guesses, good_guesses)

    if guess in secret_word:
        good_guesses.append(guess)
        found = True
        for letter in secret_word:
            if letter not in good_guesses:
                found = False
        if found:
            print('You win!')
            print('The secret word was {}'.format(secret_word.upper()))
            done = True
    else:
        bad_guesses.append(guess)
        if len(bad_guesses) == 7:
            draw(bad_guesses, good_guesses, secret_word)
            print('You lost!')
            print('The secret word was {}'.format(secret_word.upper()))
            done = True

    if done:
        play_again = input('Play again Y/n: ').lower()
        if play_again != 'n':
            play(done=False)   <----------------------------------------HERE-----<
        else:
            sys.exit()

Is there a reason we used -return play(done=False)- instead of just calling -play(done=False)- to restart the play() upon completion? Do we need the return here, if so, why?

Answer 1 · 2017-03-17T19:33:27Z

March 17, 2017 7:33pm

Using return is a little cleaner.

By using return instead of just the call, it cleans up the stack when the function finishes. But as you probably noticed, there's no obvious difference since the program uses sys.exit when you don't want another game.

But for an exercise, you might try replacing sys.exit() with return and see how it works.

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Ryan Dickinson

Ryan Dickinson

Using return play(done=False) instead of just calling play(done=False)?

1 Answer

Steven Parker

Steven Parker

Using return is a little cleaner.