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Python Python Basics (2015) Number Game App Squared

Posted by Mark Baek
Mark Baek
1,172 Points

I'm told this has a syntax error: return(num * len(num))

The challenge asks me to create a function that takes whatever argument (which I represent with 'num') and square it if it's a number, and if it's a string, multiply the string by the length of that string.

This is my latest iteration and I'm stumped. What am I doing wrong?

squared.py 
# EXAMPLES
# squared(5) would return 25
# squared("2") would return 4
# squared("tim") would return "timtimtim"

def squared(num):

    try:
        if int(num) == True:
            return(num ** num)
        else:
            return(num * len(num))

1 Answer

Jennifer Nordell
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STAFF
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Jennifer Nordell
Treehouse Teacher
Jennifer Nordell
.a{fill-rule:evenodd;}techdegree
Jennifer Nordell
Treehouse Teacher

I see several issues with your code. The first being num ** num. If we passed in a four we'd get four to the fourth power... not four squared. You're also missing your except rule. Take a look at the code I have for this challenge:

def squared(num):
  try:
    return int(num) ** 2
  except ValueError:
    return num * len(num)