Can someone tell me why this recursive method with raw_input is not returning?

Question

Here is the statement:

def recursive(y):
    if y < 10:
        return y
    else:
        z = raw_input("Please enter a number: ")
        recursive(z)

x = raw_input("Please enter a number: ")
t = recursive(x)

print t

Whenever I run this, if I enter a number equal to or above 10, it prompts me to enter a number again. If I enter a number less than 10, it still tells me to enter a number; however, if I enter less than 10, shouldn't the if y < 10 be true and it will return that number?

You aren't actually returning `recursive(z)`. That line should be `return recursive(z)`. — zondo, Mar 28 '16 at 21:02

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 28 '16 at 21:06

You have 2 issues:

You do not return the result of your call
You do not cast your raw_input (which is a string) as an int.

Here's the corrected version:

def recursive(y):
    if y < 10:
        return y
    else:
        z = raw_input("Please enter a number: ")
        return recursive(int(z))

Joran Beasley · Answer 2 · 2016-03-28T21:04:41.163

-1

as always because you are nto returning in your else branch ...

def recursive(y):
    if float(y) < 10: # also you need to make this a number
        return y
    else:
        z = raw_input("Please enter a number: ")
        return recursive(z) #this is almost always the problem with these questions

edited Mar 28 '16 at 21:04

answered Mar 28 '16 at 21:02

Joran Beasley

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That's *a* problem, but it keeps prompting him because he is comparing a string with an integer. – zondo Mar 28 '16 at 21:03
1

If I put `return recursive(z)`, the problem still persists – Drew D Mar 28 '16 at 21:04
ahh fair point ... fixed (sort of... no error handling) – Joran Beasley Mar 28 '16 at 21:04

Can someone tell me why this recursive method with raw_input is not returning?

2 Answers2