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

Stephanie Hernandez
Stephanie Hernandez
7,927 Points
Posted by Stephanie Hernandez
Stephanie Hernandez
7,927 Points

This code to solve the word count challenge seems to work in workspaces

def word_count(some_string): words = some_string.split(" ") i = 0 word_dict = {} for word in words: word = word.lower() if word in word_dict.keys(): word_dict[word] += 1 else: word_dict[word] = 1 return word_dict

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(some_string):
    words = some_string.split(" ")
    i = 0
    word_dict = {}
    for word in words:
        word = word.lower()
        if word in word_dict.keys():
            word_dict[word] += 1
        else:
            word_dict[word] = 1
    return word_dict

1 Answer

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

Hi there! You're doing great, and your logic and syntax are spot on. However, if you notice in the "Bummer!" message it says to be sure you're splitting on all whitespace. My guess is that you haven't tried a string that contains any new lines or tabs. Those are also whitespace. Currently, you're only splitting on spaces.

The solution to this is to split on all whitespace and we do this by changing this:

split(" ")

to this...

split()

The split function used without any arguments tells it to split on all whitespace including things like tabs and new lines.

Hope this helps! :sparkles:

Stephanie Hernandez
Stephanie Hernandez
7,927 Points
Stephanie Hernandez
Stephanie Hernandez
7,927 Points

That's a very subtle detail, thanks for the pointer!