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Python Python Basics (2015) Letter Game App Random Item

*Sings*

:/

item.py
# EXAMPLE
# random_item("Treehouse")
# The randomly selected number is 4.
# The return value would be "h"
import random
def random_item(arg):
    word = random.choice(arg)
    number = random.randint(0, len(word)-1)
    print(word[number])

2 Answers

andren
andren
28,558 Points

There are two issues:

  1. You are not meant to use random.choice(). The choice method pulls out a single random item from a collection, in other words it's actually doing the exact thing the function you are asked to write does. As such it does not belong as a step inside your function. Using it breaks your code (as the rest of the code is mostly fine) and will get the code invalidated anyway as the code checker considers use of the method as cheating.

  2. You are asked to return the argument, not print it.

If you fix those two issues like this:

import random
def random_item(arg):
    number = random.randint(0, len(arg)-1) # replaced "word" with "arg"
    return arg[number] # replaced "word" with "arg"

Then your code will pass.

Thanks!