Dayo, I modified the code a little bit to make things work the way I think you meant it to work(hopefully), and I changed the name of the function so that its' not the same name as the python file itself, but hopefully this answers your questions. Here is my countdown.py
def launchme(n): while n > 0: print n n -= 1 else: print 'Blastoff!' #uncomment to run from the shell #launchme(7) So, assuming we're running the interpreter from the same folder that countdown.py is in. You have to call module.function(parameter) >>> import countdown >>> countdown.launchme(4) 4 3 2 1 Blastoff! >>> If we uncomment the "#launchme(7)" line, and run it from the shell: $ python countdown.py 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Blastoff! On Sun, Apr 26, 2009 at 3:35 PM, Dayo Adewunmi <contactd...@gmail.com>wrote: > I'm looking at recursion in "Think Python", and this is the bit of code: > > > #!/usr/bin/env python > > def countdown(n): > if n <= 0: > print 'Blastoff!' > else: print n > countdown(n-1) > > > I've typed that in vim and saved as countdown.py, but I'm not sure how to > run it. I've had other > python files, where the triggering function didn't take any arguments, > so I would just put a `foo()` at the end of the .py file. > > However with this particular function that requires an argument, I'm not > sure how to run it. I've had to type it out in the python prompt and then > call > the function with an argument. That works, naturally. > > I've also tried this: > > >>>import countdown > >>>countdown(10) > > but this is the error I get: > > Traceback (most recent call last): > File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module> > NameError: name 'countdown' is not defined > > How can I > > a) Open my shell, and do something like: $ python countdown.py but have > it take an argument and pass it to the function, and execute. > > b) Import the function in the interactive interpreter, and call it like so: > > countdown(10) > > without getting the abovementioned error. > Thanks. > > Dayo > _______________________________________________ > Tutor maillist - Tutor@python.org > http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/tutor >
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