Published: December 06, 2020 • 2 min read
I’ve been learning a bit of Python this Fall to facilitate conversations with a mentee. In this post, I’m going to share the first Python function I’ve ever written, a solution to the Exercism challenge ‘Raindrops’.
Is this good Python code? I don’t know; that’s why I’m posting it here. I’ve
read $ python3 -c 'import this'
yet am still gloriously ignorant. Below I’ll
share the problem, my solution, and a code self-review via praise and
criticism.
Your task is to convert a number into a string that contains raindrop sounds corresponding to certain potential factors. A factor is a number that evenly divides into another number, leaving no remainder. The simplest way to test if a one number is a factor of another is to use the modulo operation.
The rules of raindrops
are that if a given number:
def convert(number):
result = str(number) + " "
if number % 3 == 0:
result += "Pling"
if number % 5 == 0:
result += "Plang"
if number % 7 == 0:
result += "Plong"
return result.split()[-1]
Starting with a very low bar, I like that this solution is compilable Python code. I think the solution is very readable. My return statement is a bit clever; it takes the last item in the string which is either some variant of the Raindrops string, or the number itself as a string. I’ve done this exercise in a few languages and it’s a take I’ve never thought of before, and so I enjoy the novelty there.
I don’t like that my function argument is called number
; I took that from the
setup code but I prefer to avoid argument names that carry their type. In this
case, the input really is a meaningless number, so I’m not sure what a better
alternative would be.
I try to avoid conditionals and there are three here. I’d prefer a data structure that we can fetch from whenever possible. For the sake of speed and simplicity, I didn’t go that route, but I am sure that I will as I get more comfortable with Python.
As mentioned in the previous section, return result.split()[-1]
is clever, in
both the good and bad meanings of that word. I can imagine someone who is newer
to string manipulation struggling with that a bit. It isn’t the most
beginner-friendly code I’ve ever written.
I hope this beginner Python code was entertaining to someone. It lives online at this permalink.
What are your thoughts on this? Let me know!
Get better at programming by learning with me! Join my 100+ subscribers receiving weekly ideas, creations, and curated resources from across the world of programming.