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Python Python Collections (2016, retired 2019) Lists Disemvowel

Joshua Dam
Joshua Dam
7,148 Points
Posted by Joshua Dam
Joshua Dam
7,148 Points

Disemvowel - Issues with code

Here's my code. It seems to work properly in Workspaces but it does not pass for the challenge. Can't figure out what's wrong.

disemvowel.py 
def disemvowel(word):
    for letters in word:
        try:
            word.remove('a')
        except ValueError:
            pass
        try:
            word.remove('e')
        except ValueError:
            pass
        try:
            word.remove('i')
        except ValueError:
            pass
        try:
            word.remove('o')
        except ValueError:
            pass
        try:
            word.remove('u')
        except ValueError:
            pass
        try:
            word.remove('A')
        except ValueError:
            pass
        try:
            word.remove('E')
        except ValueError:
            pass
        try:
            word.remove('I')
        except ValueError:
            pass
        try:
            word.remove('O')
        except ValueError:
            pass
        try:
            word.remove('U')
        except ValueError:
            pass
    my_word = ''.join(my_list)
    return my_word

my_list = list('Alligator')

disemvowel(my_list)

3 Answers

Chris Freeman
MOD
Chris Freeman
Treehouse Moderator 68,441 Points
Chris Freeman
Chris Freeman
Treehouse Moderator 68,441 Points

The word argument is a string which does not have a .remove() method. Create a list out of the word, then remove letters from this new list. Be careful not to modify the same container as is used in the for statement. This will cause the indexes to be off resulting in letters skipped (possible not removed). For example:

for letter in letter_list[:]:  # notice the use of slice to create a copy so the removes don't affect the loop.

Within the function, my_list is not defined. The argument to the join should be the resultant list with the letters removed.

Also, when running the challenges, you typically do not need to include a call to the function or initialization values.

Post back if you're still having issues. Good luck!!

Christopher Shaw
seal-mask
PLUS
.a{fill-rule:evenodd;}techdegree seal-36
Christopher Shaw
Python Web Development Techdegree Graduate 58,248 Points
Christopher Shaw
.a{fill-rule:evenodd;}techdegree seal-36
Christopher Shaw
Python Web Development Techdegree Graduate 58,248 Points

There are two mistakes that I can see.

  1. The challenge will be giving you a string, your workings are for a list. So convert the string to a list before the for statement. For example.
word=list(word)
  1. Near the end, you have slipped in my_list, where it should be word 
my_word = ''.join(word)

This should get it passing, but later you should come back and re look at the challenge as you will find it can be done in far fewer lines.

Joshua Dam
Joshua Dam
7,148 Points
Joshua Dam
Joshua Dam
7,148 Points

Got it to work! Thank you for the answers. At first, I was converting the string into a list outside of the function. Moved it into the function and it passed. I can definitely make this simpler/smaller, just wanted to get it working period.

def disemvowel(word):
    my_word = list(word)
    for letters in my_word:
        try:
            my_word.remove('a')
        except ValueError:
            pass
        try:
            my_word.remove('e')
        except ValueError:
            pass
        try:
            my_word.remove('i')
        except ValueError:
            pass
        try:
            my_word.remove('o')
        except ValueError:
            pass
        try:
            my_word.remove('u')
        except ValueError:
            pass
        try:
            my_word.remove('A')
        except ValueError:
            pass
        try:
            my_word.remove('E')
        except ValueError:
            pass
        try:
            my_word.remove('I')
        except ValueError:
            pass
        try:
            my_word.remove('O')
        except ValueError:
            pass
        try:
            my_word.remove('U')
        except ValueError:
            pass
    final_word = ''.join(my_word)
    return final_word

disemvowel('Alligator')