Lab 4b — Substrings

Preparation

1 minute

Download the zip file for this lab, located above. This zip file has code that you will use for this assignment. Extract the files and put them in your cs110 directory in a folder called lab4b.

Review the guide

4 minutes

Review the guide on strings, particularly replacing a substring, limited replacement, and checking for a substring.

Goals for today

Understand that string.replace() does not mutate the string.

Understand how to use in to tell if a substring is part of a bigger string.

Understand how to use in to check if an item is in a list.

Understand why using in saves us from using a for loop.

Changeup

5 minutes

For sake of time, work through these exercises with the TA.

In the file changeup.py, you will find a set of substring replacement exercises. The main() function calls a set of functions that change a proverb into a new proverb:

print(change_excuse('A bad excuse is better than none.'))
print(change_mountain('Do not make a mountain out of a mole hill.'))
print(change_fire('Fight fire with fire.'))
print(change_late('Better late than never.'))

The function documentation shows you what changes to make. You should use replace() multiple times, replacing consecutive words. We have provided one example for you:

def change_excuse(proverb: str) -> str:
    """
    Change: A bad excuse is better than none.
    To: Every good excuse is worth millions.
    """
    proverb = proverb.replace('A', 'Every')
    proverb = proverb.replace('bad', 'good')
    proverb = proverb.replace('better than', 'worth')
    proverb = proverb.replace('none', 'millions')
    return proverb

This does calls replace() four times to make the change.

At the end, you will find a place to change your own proverb:

# https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_proverbial_phrases
print(change_your_own('Put a phrase here'))

You can use the Wikipedia list of proverbs for examples.

Discussion with TA:

• Were any of these tricky?
• Did you need to use limited replacement at all?
• Why is reassigning the variable proverb important each time we call replace()?

Note: .replace() does not mutate, or change strings. It simply returns a new string. To save the new string we write string = string.replace(old, new).

Simple chat bot

10 minutes with a partner, 5 minute review

Write a simple chatbot using the code in chatbot.py. The chatbot follows these rules:

• start with, “Hello! What did you do today?”
• read input until “goodbye”
• if input has ‘good’, ‘great’, ‘fun’, or ‘amazing’
  • response is “Cool!”
• if input has ‘bad’, ‘rough’, ‘sad’, or ‘terrible’
  • response is “I’m so sorry, how can I help?”
• otherwise
  • response is “Tell me more.”

We have decomposed this problem into two functions:

• found_word(text, words) — This takes a string in text and a list of strings in words. The function returns True if any of the words in the list are found in the text. You can use in and early return in this function.

• chat() — This function uses an input loop to implement a chat bot, using the rules listed above.

Discussion with TA:

• What does early return mean?
• What happens if a person types something that contains a word from both lists?

Assigning jerseys

5 minute overview, 10 minutes with a partner, 5 minute review

Write a program that signs up players for a soccer team. The program asks you to input a player’s name and jersey number. If a jersey number is already taken, then it tells you that number is already taken and asks you to try a different number. You end the list of players by entering a blank name for a player.

Once the program has all the players, it prints out a list of players and their jersey numbers.

Here is some sample input and output:

Player name: John
Jersey number: 10
Player name: Peter
Jersey number: 10
That number is already taken.
Jersey number: 5
Player name: Sarah
Jersey number: 1
Player name: Jane
Jersey number: 10
That number is already taken.
Jersey number: 5
That number is already taken.
Jersey number: 1
That number is already taken.
Jersey number: 3
Player name:
10: John
5: Peter
1: Sarah
3: Jane

We have decomposed this problem into three functions:

• get_player_info(jerseys): This function gets a player’s info and returns a tuple of (name, number). The function is given a list of jersey numbers that are already taken. The function should return None if the name is empty. The function should keep asking for a number until the player chooses one that is not already taken.

• assign_jerseys(): This function gets all of the players and returns a list of (name, number) tuples. It uses get_player_info() to get each player.

• print_assignments(): This function prints all of the players and their numbers using the format number: name

Note, when you call get_player_info() you need to give it a list of all of the numbers that have already been assigned. To do this, you will need to unpack the tuple returned by get_player_info(). You can do this with:

name, number = player

Discussion with TA:

• The get_player_info() function has a little twist compared to the past funcitons we have written like this, because you have to keep asking for a player’s number until you get one that is not assigned. Show a solution and talk through it to be sure everyone understands how this works.

• Likewise, the assign_players() function does something different than usual — we need a list of players and a list of jerseys. Show a solution and talk through it to be sure everyone understands how this works.

Grading

To finish this lab and receive a grade, take the canvas quiz.

Solution