Old School Sentiment

sentiment.md

def sentiment(message):
    happy_count = 0
    sad_count = 0
    if len(message) < 3:
        return "none"
    
    for i in range(len(message) - 2):
        if message[i] == ":" and message[i+1] == "-":
            if message[i+2] == ")":
                happy_count += 1
            elif message[i+2] == "(":
                sad_count += 1

    if happy_count > sad_count:
        return "happy"
    elif sad_count > happy_count:
        return "sad"
    elif happy_count == 0 and sad_count == 0:
        return "none"
    else:
        return "unsure"

1. Function Definition: The function is defined as sentiment(message), which takes a single argument message.

2. Count Initialization: The variables happy_count and sad_count are initialized to 0. These will be used to keep track of the number of happy and sad emoticons in the message.

3. Message Length Check: The code starts by checking if the length of the message is less than 3 characters. If it is, the function immediately returns "none". This is because an emoticon requires at least 3 characters (e.g., ":-)"), so any message shorter than 3 characters cannot possibly contain an emoticon.

4. Loop Over Message Characters: The code uses a for loop to iterate over the characters of the message. The loop iterates up to len(message) - 2 because the last two characters of the message won't form a complete emoticon.

5. Emoticon Detection: Inside the loop, the code checks if the current character message[i] is a colon (:) and the next character message[i+1] is a hyphen (-). This is the beginning of a potential emoticon.

6. Emoticon Type Check: If the colon and hyphen are followed by a closing parenthesis ()), it means a happy emoticon is detected, so happy_count is incremented. If it's followed by an opening parenthesis ((), it means a sad emoticon is detected, so sad_count is incremented.

7. Sentiment Determination: After processing all the characters in the loop, the code compares the counts of happy and sad emoticons. If happy_count is greater than sad_count, it means there are more happy emoticons, so the function returns "happy". If sad_count is greater, the function returns "sad". If both counts are zero, it means no emoticons were found, so the function returns "none".

8. Unsure Case: If neither the "happy" nor "sad" conditions are met, it means that happy_count and sad_count are equal. In this case, the function returns "unsure" because there is an equal number of both types of emoticons.

9. Function Conclusion: The function concludes with a return statement based on the detected sentiment or lack thereof.