On 28/12/15 12:34, cicy felix wrote: > Create a function get_algorithm_result to implement the algorithm below > Get a list of numbers L1, L2, L3....LN as argument > Assume L1 is the largest, Largest = L1 > Take next number Li from the list and do the following > If Largest is less than Li > Largest = Li > If Li is last number from the list then > return Largest and come out > Else repeat same process starting from step 3
OK, That seems fairly clear. Although it does seem to imply a while loop which is maybe not the best option here.(see below) > This what I've come up with: Thanks for showing us the code, but there are several issues with it > def get_algorithm_result( numlist ): > largest = numlist[0] > i = 1 > while ( i < len(numlist) ): > if ( largest < numlist[i]): > largest = numlist[i] > i = i + 1 Notice that you only increase i if the if test is true. If largest >= numlist[i] then your loop will simply go round and round forever. The normal way in Python to process all elements in a list is to use a for loop. In your case that would look an awful lot simpler. Try it. > return largest > numlist1 = [1,2,3,4,5] > numlist2 = [10,20,30,40,50] I've no idea what you think these numbers are for, they are not mentioned in your problem description. > largest = get_algorithm_result(numlist1) This should(if it worked properly) return 5 > print largest So this (should) always print 5 > largest = get_algorithm_result(numlist2) and his should(if it worked properly) return 50 > print largest and this should print 50. Two largests - isn't that a bit confusing? Especially since neither number may be in your original list of numbers. > And I keep getting this error : > . test_maximum_number_two > Failure in line 15, in test_maximum_number_two self.assertEqual(result, > "zoo", msg="Incorrect number") AssertionError: Incorrect number > Using unittest Since you don't show us any code involving test_maximum_number_two or even maximum_number_two() we can't help you there. But it does seem to me that you are over complicating things. Even if you stick with a while loop, just follow the algorithm you were given and it should work. One final point. You are printing the results but your problem states that you should write a function that *returns* the largest. Not one that prints it. In general this is what functions should always do - return values not print them. It makes them much more reusable and flexible. You can always print the output later using: print get_algorithm_result(numlist) -- Alan G Author of the Learn to Program web site http://www.alan-g.me.uk/ http://www.amazon.com/author/alan_gauld Follow my photo-blog on Flickr at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/alangauldphotos _______________________________________________ Tutor maillist - Tutor@python.org To unsubscribe or change subscription options: https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/tutor
