variables in string.count

[Matteo Dell'Amico]

ntg85 wrote:
> Can you use variables in string.count or string.find? I tried, and
> IDLE gives me errors.
> Here's the code:
> while list:
>     print 
>     letter = raw_input("What letter? ")
>     string.lower(letter)
>     guess = string.count(letter, list)
>     if guess == -1:
>         print "Try again!"
>     else:
>         list.remove(letter)
> the error is:
> TypeError: expected a character buffer object
> Thanks.

You shouldn't use list as a variable name: it's already a builtin 
function, and it could create problems to you.

As your exception states, string.count needs a string to work on, and 
string.lower doesn't modify the object in place (strings are immutable), 
  but it would return a new object.

I'd code it like this:

while secret:
     print
     letter = raw_input("What letter? ").lower()
     # we probably should do something to make sure len(letter) == 1
     if letter not in secret:
         print "Try again!"
     else:
         secret = secret.replace(letter, '', 1)

-- 
Ciao,
Matteo