Welcome to the Treehouse Community

Want to collaborate on code errors? Have bugs you need feedback on? Looking for an extra set of eyes on your latest project? Get support with fellow developers, designers, and programmers of all backgrounds and skill levels here with the Treehouse Community! While you're at it, check out some resources Treehouse students have shared here.

Looking to learn something new?

Treehouse offers a seven day free trial for new students. Get access to thousands of hours of content and join thousands of Treehouse students and alumni in the community today.

Start your free trial

Python Python Basics (2015) Shopping List App Refactor

Alex Durham
PLUS
Alex Durham
Courses Plus Student 456 Points

functions

What am I missing i feel like i have everything inside of functions can someone help Thanks

shopping_list.py
def show_help():
    # print out instructions on how to use the app
    print("What should we pick up at the store?")
    print("""
    Enter 'DONE' to stop adding items.
    Enter 'HELP' for this help.
    Enter 'SHOW' to see your current list.
    """)

def show_list(shopping_list):
    # print out the list
    print("Here's your list:")

    for item in shopping_list:
        print(item)

def add_to_list(shopping_list, new_item):
    # add new items to our list
    shopping_list.append(new_item)
    print("Added {}. List now has {} items.".format(new_item, len(shopping_list)))
    return shopping_list

def main ():
    show_help()
# make a list to hold onto our items
    shopping_list = []
    while True:
    # ask for new items
    new_item = input("> ")
    # be able to quit the app
    if new_item == 'DONE':
        break
    elif new_item == 'HELP':
        show_help()
        continue
    elif new_item == 'SHOW':
        show_list(shopping_list)
        continue
    add_to_list(shopping_list, new_item)
    show_list(shopping_list)
BRIAN WEBER
BRIAN WEBER
21,570 Points

As Steven stated, you need to indent the code after your while loop inside the main function.

def main ():
    show_help()
# make a list to hold onto our items
    shopping_list = []
    while True:
        # ask for new items
        new_item = input("> ")
        # be able to quit the app
        if new_item == 'DONE':
            break
        elif new_item == 'HELP':
            show_help()
            continue
        elif new_item == 'SHOW':
            show_list(shopping_list)
            continue
        add_to_list(shopping_list, new_item)
        show_list(shopping_list)
Steven Parker
Steven Parker
231,269 Points

Remember to mark the question closed (by selecting a "best answer") once you are satisfied with an answer.

2 Answers

Steven Parker
Steven Parker
231,269 Points

Yes, everything is inside the function now.

But it looks like you didn't preserve the original indentation levels, so (for example) things that used to be inside a loop are not any more.

When moving code into the function, the indentation level needs to be increased one stop for every line, whether it was originally indented or not.

Chris Freeman
MOD
Chris Freeman
Treehouse Moderator 68,441 Points
def main ():  # <-- space before paren throwing off checker.
    show_help()
# make a list to hold onto our items
    shopping_list = []
    while True:
    # ask for new items
    new_item = input("> ")  # <-- incorrect indentation in while loop
    # be able to quit the app
    if new_item == 'DONE':  # <-- incorrect indentation in while loop
        break
    elif new_item == 'HELP':  # <-- incorrect indentation in while loop
        show_help()
        continue
    elif new_item == 'SHOW':  # <-- incorrect indentation in while loop
        show_list(shopping_list)
        continue
    add_to_list(shopping_list, new_item)  # <-- incorrect indentation in while loop
    show_list(shopping_list)
Steven Parker
Steven Parker
231,269 Points

I guess that space issue is a checker bug, right?

Chris Freeman
Chris Freeman
Treehouse Moderator 68,441 Points

Maybe. Let's ask Kenneth Love: Is the space between "main" and "()", while syntactically forgiven by the interpreter, really an error?

I remember an early version of the checker (now fixed) rejected "main(): " if there were trailing spaces after the colon.

Kenneth Love
Kenneth Love
Treehouse Guest Teacher

It's "forbidden" by PEP 8 so I'd say it should be a point of failure. It's a bad habit and one I'd rather not allow/encourage.

If I could require a PEP 8 pass on every challenge, I would....n't always?...but would most of the time.

Chris Freeman
Chris Freeman
Treehouse Moderator 68,441 Points

Adding a PEP8 check as a separate independent check would be great! Leading to "your code passes, but whoa! clean it up! PEP8 errors:....."