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Python Python Collections (2016, retired 2019) Dictionaries Word Count

james malloy
james malloy
7,959 Points
Posted by james malloy
james malloy
7,959 Points

word_count function not working - unclear as to why

the returned message say I should be sure I'm not splitting only on spaces, but as I'm not specifying a separator in the split method, i didn't think I was
Any ideas what I'm doing wrong ?

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(input_string):
    ret_dict = {}

    word_list = input_string.lower().split()

    for word in word_list:
        if word in ret_dict:
            ret_dict[word] += 1
        else:
            ret_dict[word] = 1

2 Answers

Stuart Wright
Stuart Wright
41,118 Points
Stuart Wright
Stuart Wright
41,118 Points

You have done all of the hard work but then forgotten to return anything!

Just return your ret_dict and it's good to go.

james malloy
james malloy
7,959 Points
james malloy
james malloy
7,959 Points

ha ha, oops! Well spotted.