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Python Python Basics (2015) Python Data Types Use .split() and .join()

John Brindle
John Brindle
2,516 Points
Posted by John Brindle
John Brindle
2,516 Points

Why can't I get past task 3 in the beginner's python .join and .split task?

I keep getting an error that task one is no longer working even though I have passed through to task three. I don't seem to have altered anything yet I can't seem to get it right despite watching the video again!

any help would be gratefully accepted!

banana.py 
available = "banana split;hot fudge;cherry;malted;black and white"
sundaes = available.split(";")
menu = "Our available flavors are: {}.".format(display_menu = (", ").join(sundaes))

2 Answers

Jennifer Nordell
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STAFF
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Jennifer Nordell
Treehouse Teacher
Jennifer Nordell
.a{fill-rule:evenodd;}techdegree
Jennifer Nordell
Treehouse Teacher

Hi there! The most common reason to get a "Task 1 is no longer passing" message is because you've introduced a syntax error in your code. At this point, none of the code can be compiled/interpreted. You can validate this in a workspace or on your local system. The error message here is "IndexError: tuple index out of range".

Now, this particular error likely doesn't mean much to you right now. You will need a little more Python under your belt before that means something. So I will try and put this as simply as I know how: you are trying to format a string with the result of assigning a value to a variable.

If you simply remove display_menu = from your code, it passes all three steps. We're wanting to format the string with the list that is created when we join the sundaes list with a comma and a space. You're doing that and then assigning it to display_menu. You have one of two choices here. You could set up the display_menu variable and assign it the value of the sundaes list properly joined and then format the string with display_menu or you can leave the extra variable out altogether and just format the string with the joined sundaes list, which is what will happen if you remove display_menu =.

Hope this helps! :sparkles:

John Brindle
John Brindle
2,516 Points
John Brindle
John Brindle
2,516 Points

Hi Jennifer,

Thanks for that, I sat and had a play with the task again and separated out the steps, I was just curious to see if I could make it work on one line (as suggested in the task!) I can see now that I didn't need to assign the second variable! Seems obvious when somebody points it out to you!

Thank you!