problem while going through a tutorial

[John Machin]

Simon Schuster wrote:
> I'm new to python, and almost new to programming in general. I'm at
> http://www.pasteur.fr/formation/infobio/python/ch04.html in that
> tutorial, and my 'count' function (if it's called a function?) isn't
> working suddenly.
>
> >>> x = "fljshfjh"
> >>> x
> 'fljshfjh'
> >>> count(x, 'h')
> Traceback (most recent call last):
>   File "<stdin>", line 1, in ?
> NameError: name 'count' is not defined
>
> I'm not sure what changed, because it used to work. anyhow thanks a lot!
>

Probably because you omiitted the line

from string import *

However IMHO your use of a tutorial which:

(1) introduces "from some_module import *" as though it is the normal
way of doing things

    From chapter 1: """
    Some magical stuff, that will be explained later:
    >>> from string import *
    """

    That's *bad* magic


(2) is still using (outdated) functions in the string module instead of
teaching string methods

should be discontinued immediately.

You may wish to have a look at some of the /other/ tutorials mentioned
on this page:

http://wiki.python.org/moin/BeginnersGuide/NonProgrammers

HTH,
John