Answer list

Bob
Bob in Python 
ANSWERS = ['Whatever.', 'Sure.', 'Whoa, chill out!',
            "Calm down, I know what I'm doing!"]


def response(hey_bob):
    hey_bob = hey_bob.rstrip()
    if not hey_bob:
        return 'Fine. Be that way!'
    is_shout = 2 if hey_bob.isupper() else 0
    is_question = 1 if hey_bob.endswith('?') else 0
    return ANSWERS[is_shout + is_question]

In this approach you define a list that contains Bob’s answers, and each condition is given a score. The correct answer is selected from the list by using the score as the list index.

Python doesn't enforce having real constant values, but the ANSWERS list is defined with all uppercase letters, which is the naming convention for a Python constant. It indicates that the value is not intended to be changed.

Note

ANSWERS could prevent item reassignment by being defined as a tuple instead of a list. The items in a tuple cannot be changed, and the performance between a tuple and a list here is equivalent. The entire ANSWERS tuple could still be reassigned to another tuple, so uppercase letters would still be used to indicate that the ANSWERS tuple should not be changed.

The rstrip method is applied to the input to eliminate any whitespace at the end of the input. If the input has no characters left, it uses the falsiness of an empty string with the not operator to return the response for saying nothing. Since it doesn't matter if there is leading whitespace, the rstrip function is used instead of strip.

A ternary operator is used for determining the score for a shout and a question.

The isupper method is used to test that there is at least one cased character and that all cased characters are uppercase.

Note

A cased character is one which differs between lowercase and uppercase. For example, ? and 3 are not cased characters, as they do not change between lowercase and uppercase. a and z are cased characters, since their lowercase form changes to A and Z when uppercase.

If isupper is True, then is_shout is given the value of 2; otherwise, it is given the value of 0.

The endswith method is used to determine if the input ends with a question mark. If the test for endswith('?') is True, then is_question is given the value of 1; otherwise it is given the value of 0.

The response is selected from the list by the index like so

is_shout is_question Index Answer
false false 0 + 0 = 0 "Whatever."
false true 0 + 1 = 1 "Sure."
true false 2 + 0 = 2 "Whoa, chill out!"
true true 2 + 1 = 3 "Calm down, I know what I'm doing!"
4th Dec 2024 · Found it useful?

Other Approaches to Bob in Python

Other ways our community solved this exercise
if is_shout and is_question:
    return "Calm down, I know what I'm doing!"
if is_shout:
    return 'Whoa, chill out!'
if is_question:
    return 'Sure.'
return 'Whatever.'
If statements

Use if statements to return the answer. 

if is_shout:
    if is_question:
        return "Calm down, I know what I'm doing!"
    return 'Whoa, chill out!'
if is_question:
    return 'Sure.'
return 'Whatever.'
if statements nested

Use nested if statements to return the answer.