trying to create funtion that prepends / to a file path that is not absoloute

Question

heres my code:
import os
def absolute(path, root):
    while path.startswith('/') is True:
        return path
    else:
        return (f"/{path}")
the challenge is:
https://teamtreehouse.com/library/python-for-file-systems/navigation/absolutely
I dont understand why my code isnt working. I tested it and everything seems to work correctly but the quiz will not allow me to move forward.
```absolute.py
import os
def absolute(path, root):
    while path.startswith('/') is True:
        return path
    else:
        return (f"/{path}")
```

Chris Freeman · Accepted Answer

Hey @Andy McDonald (https://teamtreehouse.com/andymcdonald2), you have the correct ideas, but some semantics are incorrect.
* the proper comparison with True is ==. Using is means checking something is exactly True as in bool int 1. Moreover, since the method startswith() returns a bool, the comparison to True is unnecessary. The “truthy” value of the method result is sufficient
* use if instead of while since the comparison is done once and not repeatedly until not True
* in the else return value, {root} needs to prefix the path. No / is needed since root ends in “/“. 
Post back if you need more help. Good luck!!!

Welcome to the Treehouse Community

Looking to learn something new?

Andy McDonald

Andy McDonald

trying to create funtion that prepends / to a file path that is not absoloute

1 Answer

Chris Freeman

Chris Freeman