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Python Python Collections (2016, retired 2019) Dictionaries Word Count

Posted by samt
samt
6,039 Points

Didn't get the expected output

Hi Guys,

I have tested this in my local code editor and the output looks fine to me, but the code challenge says that it doesn't get the expected output. Can someone please point out where I have gone wrong?

Thanks

Sam

wordcount.py 
# E.g. word_count("I do not like it Sam I Am") gets back a dictionary like:
# {'i': 2, 'do': 1, 'it': 1, 'sam': 1, 'like': 1, 'not': 1, 'am': 1}
# Lowercase the string to make it easier.

def word_count(string):
    word_list = string.lower().split(" ")
    word_count_dict = {}
    for word in word_list:
        try:
            word_count_dict[word] += 1
        except KeyError:
            word_count_dict[word] = 1
    return word_count_dict

1 Answer

Stuart Wright
Stuart Wright
41,120 Points
Stuart Wright
Stuart Wright
41,120 Points

The problem is with your .split() statement. You need to split on all whitespace, rather than just " ". This can include things like tabs, which are different from regular spaces. Thankfully, the .split() method does this by default if you don't pass any arguments to it, so simple remove your " " from the parentheses and your code will pass:

def word_count(string):
    word_list = string.lower().split()
    word_count_dict = {}
    for word in word_list:
        try:
            word_count_dict[word] += 1
        except KeyError:
            word_count_dict[word] = 1
    return word_count_dict