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Python Python Collections (Retired) Dictionaries Word Count

benjamin siverly
benjamin siverly
3,430 Points
Posted by benjamin siverly
benjamin siverly
3,430 Points

My .split(' ') function is splitting string on each character instead of spaces between characters. Can someone explain?

I tried editing the .split function both with and without a space, but without any space I get a ValueError saying 'empty separator'...

Can someone help me out?

word_count.py 
# E.g. word_count("I am that I am") gets back a dictionary like:
# {'i': 2, 'am': 2, 'that': 1}
# Lowercase the string to make it easier.
# Using .split() on the sentence will give you a list of words.
# In a for loop of that list, you'll have a word that you can
# check for inclusion in the dict (with "if word in dict"-style syntax).
# Or add it to the dict with something like word_dict[word] = 1.
word_dict = {}
string = "I am that I am"
def word_count(string):
    word = string.lower().split(' ')
    for word in string:
        if word in word_dict:
            word_dict[word] += 1
            continue
        else:
            word_dict[word] = 1 
    return word_dict
word_count(string)

1 Answer

Idan Melamed
Idan Melamed
16,285 Points
Idan Melamed
Idan Melamed
16,285 Points

Hi Benjamin

You are very close to the answer, and actually your split() is working fine.

The problem is with the for loop. You are looping through the input string, instead of through the list you created from it. I am including below my solution, in case you want to take a peek.

def word_count(input_str):
    words = {}
    lower_str = input_str.lower()
    words_list = lower_str.split(' ')
    for word in words_list:
        if word in words:
            words[word] += 1
        else:
            words[word] = 1

    return words