Checking if a word exists in a file

Question

I am trying to make a program that takes a file which contains a list of words and user must enter a word that exists in the file. Can you tell me where is the wrong?

file = open('filename')
word_list = file.readlines()
print(word_list)
while True:
    word = input('type in word, must be in English and at least 3 letters long: ')
    if word in word_list:
        break;
    else:
        print("Try Again")

You should tell _us_ what's wrong by providing sample input and output. In any case, `word_list` contains each _line_ in the file, not each _word_. — Arc676, Dec 04 '15 at 13:26
Hint: why does `"c" in ["a b", "c d"]` evaluate to False? Why does `"b" in ["a\n", "b\n", "c"]` evaluate to False? — Kevin, Dec 04 '15 at 13:34
Every line in file is a word... So the inputed word is a line... — D.A.G.D, Dec 04 '15 at 13:53

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 04 '15 at 13:33

0

Try this:

file = open('filename', 'r')
word_list = []
for line in file:
    line = line.strip()
    list = line.split()
    word_list.extend(list)

word_list = list(set(word_list))  # Make list with unique values.
while True:
    word = input('type in word, must be in English and at least 3 letters long: ')
    if word in word_list:
        break
    else:
        print("Try Again")
file.close()

answered Dec 04 '15 at 13:33

Kamejoin

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2
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> Can you tell me where is the wrong? – vaultah Dec 04 '15 at 13:43
1

@vaultah, the problem is that in the posted code, the file.readlines() results in a list of strings that are terminated in '\n'. As @Kevin hinted above, this causes your comparisons to fail because `'a' in ['a\n', 'b\n']` will evaluate to false. – JCVanHamme Dec 04 '15 at 14:00
@JCVanHamme: yes. Kamejoin decided to not include the explanation in their answer. – vaultah Dec 04 '15 at 14:06
Actually.. When i run it with a small file i can execute it... But when i run it with a large text file (with many many words) i cant execute it... Any thoughts? – D.A.G.D Dec 04 '15 at 14:16

Checking if a word exists in a file

1 Answers1