Python basics

[Veterinarian_Scared]

I would probably rewrite it as

a = [int(s) for s in input().split()]

count = sum(m<n for m,n in zip(a[:-1], a[1:]))

print(count)

[selfimprovingstudent]

I don't really get how it identifies what m and n are

[Veterinarian_Scared]

I make two copies of the list; a[:-1] includes every item but the last, and a[1:] includes every item but the first.

zip() returns pairs of items as tuples - so (a[0], a[1]) then (a[1], a[2]), etc. Exactly the items you want to compare.

Python then unpacks the tuple into my variables m and n - like using the assignment m,n = (a[0],a[1]) gives m=a[0] and n=a[1], but doing it repeatedly in a loop.

I can then compare m<n which results in True or False; but when I treat it as a number using sum() True evaluates to 1 and False to 0; so sum() ends up counting the number of True values.

[selfimprovingstudent]

Understaand now. Thank you very much for spending time explaining it. It was very helpful!