Python 401 Weekly Challenge #2

gistfile1.txt

sample_string = "I am a very long string with some extra words that are silly."


def smart_substr(string, terminate="..."):
    if len(string) < 30:
        return string
    else:
        list_of_words = sample_string.split()
        output = ""
        while len(output) < 30:
            if (len(list_of_words[0]) + len(output)) < 30:
                output.join(list_of_words[:1]) # this is not working
                list_of_words.pop(0)
                print(len(output))
                print("joined word")
            else:
                output.join(terminate)
                print("I'm in a loop")
                break
    return output



# got help from:
# http://stackoverflow.com/questions/6905636/python-conditional-list-joins
# https://docs.python.org/2/library/string.html#string.join
# http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4426663/how-do-i-remove-the-first-item-from-a-python-list

a few things that could be improved here. First, remember that join is called on the string you want to use to join the list of strings you pass as the argument. So " ".join([[output] + list_of_words[0]) would work where your line 12 does not. Second, remember that you can iterate directly through a list of words, so rather than having to use the list.pop(0) method to shorten the list, you can just grab your words one at a time and use them directly. Your approach here is sound, but your execution is problematic. It's mostly due to familiarity with your tools. This will improve (and it has improved already).