On Wed, 28 Jul 2010 09:51:40 pm Richard D. Moores wrote:
> I have a practical need for a script that will give me a random int
> in the closed interval [n, m]. Please see
> <http://tutoree7.pastebin.com/xeCjE7bV>.
What is the purpose of this function?
def get_random_int(n, m):
return randint(n, m)
Why call "get_random_int" instead of randint? It does *exactly* the same
thing, only slower because of the extra indirection.
If the only reason is because you don't like the name randint, then the
simple solution is this:
get_random_int = randint
Now get_random_int is another name for the same function, without any
indirection.
> This works fine when I enter both n and m as, for example, "23, 56",
> or even "56, 23". But often the closed interval is [1, m], so I'd
> like to not have to enter the 1 in those cases, and just enter, say,
> "37" to mean the interval [1, 37].
Keep the front end (user interface) separate from the back end. Here's
the back end:
def get_random_int(n, m=None):
if m is None: # only one argument given
n, m = 1, n
return randint(n, m)
def str_to_bounds(s):
L = s.split(',', 1) # Split a maximum of once.
return [int(x) for x in L]
And here's the front end:
def get_interval_bounds():
print("Get a random integer in closed interval [n, m]")
s = input("Enter n, m: ")
return str_to_bounds(s)
def main():
prompt = "Enter 'q' to quit; nothing to get another random int: "
while True:
args = get_interval_bounds()
print(get_random_int(*args))
ans = input(prompt)
if ans == 'q':
print("Bye.")
# Waiting 2 seconds is not annoying enough,
# waiting 2.2 seconds is too annoying.
sleep(2.1) # Just annoying enough!
return
main()
Hope this helps!
--
Steven D'Aprano
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