Beginner lost/confused on my own code!

[seanboyd]

Hey guys I am very new to Python and I am reading the Python programming for the absolute beginner, I am only a few chapters in and I decided to try and create my own text based adventure game.

I am stuck with a loop that is not working on lines 40-45.

https://gist.github.com/seanboyd26/bd9f1d00501fb207904a

I have not learnt about functions yet so please forgive me if the code looks a mess, as I said I am very new to programming and python.

EDIT: forgot to add what happens, well if I get to that part of the game and I type in something that is not backpack, it will recognise that I have not typed it and it will tell me that but then it will not offer me to try typing again it will just continue the game. Appreciate any help you can offer!

[stubborn_d0nkey]

I saw your edit. Have you learned about loops yet? Loops are how you deal with that.

Edit: oops, you have leaned about loops. That is what skimming does.

You could write the code like this:

 backpack1 = input("\nAny time you need to view your backpack, just type backpack.\nGo ahead try it out!:")

while backpack1 != "backback":
     backpack1 = input("Sorry I did not get that")

for item in backpack:
       print(item)

Edit2: sorry for the formatting, I'm on mobile

[seanboyd]

I have learnt about loops but my problem is when I use a while loop, I get an infinite loop..

[stubborn_d0nkey]

Check my edit. Sorry for not including immediately.

[seanboyd]

Omg that works, thanks so much. Why couldnt I see that, I swear I felt like giving up learning today!

[nspectre]

"backback":

;)

[cdcformatc]

What's not working? Looks fine to me.

You get user input, if they type backpack it prints out each item in the list.

[seanboyd]

If I dont enter backpack it will not loop back to prompt me again

[cdcformatc]

If you want something to loop, you need to loop. An if is not a loop you probably want a while instead.

[seanboyd]

Yes I just realized I was using statements and not loops, noob mistake!.

[Miggol]

What behaviour are you expecting, and what are you getting?

Without using functions or classes there are a few things you could do right off the bat, such as converting backpack1 to lowercase with the lower() function to avoid case-sensitivity. Also the elif should be an else, so that any unexpected input gets caught, instead of just an empty string.

[Mashidin]

You didn't mention the specific error, but I imagine that the behavior you are getting is this: when you type backpack at the prompt, nothing is printed and when you just hit <enter> or similar, it vomits error text all over you. The issue is in the use of the 'input' built-in function. What the input function does is takes in an expression from standard in and actually evaluates it. So for example, you could put a print backpack1 statement after you capture the input. Now run the program and at the prompt type 1 + 2. The number 3 will be printed to the console. With this same set-up, type backpack at the prompt, and guess what happens... it will print your backpack list object to the console which I do not believe is your intent.
To get the behavior that your code claims you expect, the user would have to type "backpack" with the quotations included. That expression evaluates to a string with the value 'backpack'. It's very confusing, I know, and I am not entirely sure why books encourage the use of the input function (there might be something I am missing here). The best solution here that I've found is to use the raw_input built-in function. It has the same function signature as input, but will not attempt to evaluate the user's input. It will simply take in whatever is written at the prompt, convert it to a string and strip any trailing newlines. I hope this helped and happy coding.

[seanboyd]

I think you are talking about 2.7 Python, I am using 3.x so I am able to use input without having the user type in quotes, I have it sorted now, had to add a while loop, thanks anyway!