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Python Functional Python The Lambda Lambada Recursion

David Hernandez
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David Hernandez
Python Development Techdegree Graduate 12,180 Points

Need some help with this recursion problem, I am truly lost here. I know I want to find a base step...

I'm going to try a bit more, but more guidance would be appreciated. I'm thinking somehow dig deeper to get to prereqs and titles until there are no prereqs.

courses.py
courses = {'count': 2,
           'title': 'Django Basics',
           'prereqs': [{'count': 3,
                     'title': 'Object-Oriented Python',
                     'prereqs': [{'count': 1,
                               'title': 'Python Collections',
                               'prereqs': [{'count':0,
                                         'title': 'Python Basics',
                                         'prereqs': []}]},
                              {'count': 0,
                               'title': 'Python Basics',
                               'prereqs': []},
                              {'count': 0,
                               'title': 'Setting Up a Local Python Environment',
                               'prereqs': []}]},
                     {'count': 0,
                      'title': 'Flask Basics',
                      'prereqs': []}]}


def prereqs(data, pres=None):
    pres = pres or set()

2 Answers

Jeff Muday
MOD
Jeff Muday
Treehouse Moderator 28,720 Points

This one is pretty tough, but it can be broken down... kind of a divide-and-conquer.

We are interested in the prerequisites-- it is a list. We'll loop over the list and for each item in the list data.get('prereqs') we call the prerequisite function prereqs() recursively.

This can be done MORE efficiently, but I think it's more clear this way.

def prereqs(data, pres=None):
    pres = pres or set()
    # step 0. get the courses as a list
    courses = data.get('prereqs')
    for course in courses:
        # step 1. add the title only to the set
        # step 2. call the function recursively
    # outside the loop
    # step 3. return the set pres

SPOILER ALERT

def prereqs(data, pres=None):
    """ find prerequisites RECURSIVELY and return the set()"""
    pres = pres or set() # basically if pres is None, it instead makes it an empty set

    # want to loop over the (prerequisite) courses
    courses = data.get('prereqs')
    for course in courses:

        # now, we want to add the title to our set
        # the cool thing is a set won't repeat a course!
        title = course.get('title')
        pres.add( title )

        # now, the recursive call to see if there are prerequisites to
        # the particular course we just added
        prereqs(course, pres)

    # return the finished set
    return pres
David Hernandez
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.a{fill-rule:evenodd;}techdegree seal-36
David Hernandez
Python Development Techdegree Graduate 12,180 Points

This is what I was able to come up with.

def prereqs(data, pres=None):
    pres = pres or set()

    # current instance could be a list or dictionary
    if isinstance(data, list):
        if not data:
            return pres

        # prereqs exist, grab title and dig deeper
        pres.add(data[0]['title'])
        prereqs(data[0]['prereqs'], pres)

        # iterate through the list of prereqs
        return prereqs(data[1:], pres)

    return prereqs(data['prereqs'], pres)
Jeff Muday
MOD
Jeff Muday
Treehouse Moderator 28,720 Points

Awesome! I like that you handle the recursion in a fresh way. You nailed that Challenge!