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 Basics (Retired) Things That Count Exceptions

What does the narrator mean by if the number "blows up"?

What does the narrator mean by if the number "blows up"?

1 Answer

By 'blowing up', the tutor is referring to the code breaking and getting an error.

In his example, he is trying to convert the user input into an integer, and the try/except statement is there just in case the user_num string could not be correctly converted.

In the 'except' (the exception, which is the block of code which runs if the 'try' code throws an error), he is converting the user input into a float. He is presuming that if the user did not enter an integer (a whole number), that their input was a float (with a decimal).

Of course, in this example, if the user did not enter an integer or a float for user_num, the code would 'blow up' anyway. This is why he says 'we are being a little naive and assuming that they are going to give us a float or a number'.