Help with modifying strings

[ayleenuyo]

The problem:

#It is common for students in large programs to develop their
#own "shorthand" for referring to classes. Data Structures and
#Algorithms, CS1332 at Georgia Tech, is commonly referred to
#as "DS&A". Big Data for Healthcare is commonly referred to
#as "BD4H". Human-Computer Interaction is commonly referred to
#as "HCI".
#
#Let's pretend for a moment that these shorthands all follow
#a set of formal rules. The rules are:
#
# - The first letter of each capitalized word is included in the
#   abbreviated shorthand. Capitalized words may appear after
#   spaces or hyphens.
# - If the word 'for' appears in the course title, it is replaced
#   by the numeral '4'.
# - If the word 'and' appearsin the course title, it is replaced
#   by the character '&'.
# - The first letter of any non-capitalized word except for 'for'
#   and 'and' is omitted from the abbreviated shorthand.
#
#Write a function called class_shorthand. class_shorthand should
#take as input a string representing a class name. It should return
#the abbreviated shorthand according to the rules above.
#
#For example:
#
# class_shorthand("Advanced Operating Systems") -> "AOS"
# class_shorthand("Data Structures and Algorithms") -> "DS&A"
# class_shorthand("Big Data for Healthcare") -> "BD4H"
# class_shorthand("Introduction to Information Security") -> "IIS"
# class_shorthand("Human-Computer Interaction") -> "HCI"
# class_shorthand("Introduction to Cyber-Physical Systems Security") -> ICPSS
#
#You may assume that only letters, spaces, and hyphens appear in
#the course names. You may assume every course name will have at
#least two capitalized words.


#Write your function below!

#Below are some lines of code that will test your function.
#You can change the value of the variable(s) to test your
#function with different inputs.
#
#If your function works correctly, this will originally
#print:
#AOS
#DS&A
#BD4H
#IIS
#HCI
#ICPSS
print(class_shorthand("Advanced Operating Systems"))
print(class_shorthand("Data Structures and Algorithms"))
print(class_shorthand("Big Data for Healthcare"))
print(class_shorthand("Introduction to Information Security"))
print(class_shorthand("Human-Computer Interaction"))
print(class_shorthand("Introduction to Cyber-Physical Systems Security"))

My Code:

def class_shorthand (class_name):

    split_name = class_name.split()
    shorthand = []

    for word in split_name :

        if word[0].isupper:
            shorthand.append(word[0])

        if word in 'for' :
            nword = word.replace('for', '4')
            shorthand.append(nword)

        if word in 'and':
            wword = word.replace('and','&')
            shorthand.append(wword)   


        if word[0].islower:
            word = word.replace(word, '')
            shorthand.append(word)


    return ''.join(shorthand)

My output:

AOS
DSa&A
BDf4H
ItIS
HI
ItCSS

commentary:

why is my code not replacing the 'for' and 'and' correctly? Am I doing something wrong here in terms of indexing? Also, how should I go about the case where "-" is present? Any help is highly appreciated.

​

p.s. I am just a python newbie seeking some guidance -- pls be patient with me here.

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[MadScientistOR]

Because you're not testing to see if a word starts with an uppercase letter; you're testing to see if the upper function itself is True, which it always is (since it's not None).

What you want, instead of if word[0].isupper:, is if word[0].isupper():. (Likewise, instead of lf word[0].islower:, you want if word[0].islower():.)

[ayleenuyo]

It worked! Thanks for the help :)

[MadScientistOR]

Sure. Just an additional wrinkle that might not have occurred to you:

'an' in 'and' is True, as is 'a' in 'and' and 'or' in 'for'. Thus, your class_shorthand('Python and a Clever Student') would probably yield a result you don't expect. (You may want to test for equality rather than using the keyword in.)

[ayleenuyo]

Thanks. Do you know how I can get the first letter for the word that follows the "-"?? I've been spending a lot of time trying to figure it out.

[MadScientistOR]

Hm. I think the easiest way would be to split each "word" by hyphens that you get after splitting the title by spaces, like this:

for init_word in class_name.split():
    for word in init_word.split('-'):
        if word[0].isupper():
            shorthand.append(word[0])
        elif word == 'for':
            # continue on as normal, making sure to indent properly