Ensure a variable is divisible by 4

[Tim Chase]

> I am sure this is a basic math issue, but is there a better way to
> ensure an int variable is divisible by 4 than by doing the following;
> 
> x = 111
> x = (x /4) * 4
> 
> Just seems a bit clunky to me.

You're right...you'll want to read up on the "modulo" operator:

if x % 4 <> 0:
	print "Hey, x isn't divisible by 4"

http://docs.python.org/lib/typesnumeric.html

To do what you describe above, you can also use

	x = x - (x % 4)

which isn't greatly better in the clunkiness department.  In both 
cases, non-divisible-by-4 numbers get bumped down (to the "left" 
on the number line) in the event that it's not divisible by 4.

-tkc