Using if/then condition with dictionary object

Question

I am new to python and have been working through a handful of activities. Currently I am working with Conditions. I created a dictionary of months and I am using an if/then condition to check if user input is in the dictionary. If the User input is not in the dictionary the output should say 'Bad Month' My code is as follows:

months = {1: 'January',
          2: 'February',
          3: 'March',
          4: 'April',
          5: 'May',
          6: 'June',
          7: 'July',
          8: 'August',
          9: 'September',
          10: 'October',
          11: 'November',
          12: 'December'}
choice = input

choice = input('Enter an integer value for a month:')
result = choice

if int(choice) in months:
    print('months')

else:
    print('Bad month')

When any integer above 12 is entered the output is 'Bad Month' but when I enter a number from 1-12 the output is just months? I've tried a number of print statements but none that I have tried work. I'm stuck.

Get rid of the condition and do: `print(months.get(int(choice), "Bad month"))` — Ben, Jul 17 '17 at 17:02
possible duplicate of [of this question](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/1602934/check-if-a-given-key-already-exists-in-a-dictionary) — sam-pyt, Jul 17 '17 at 17:02
Possible duplicate of [Check if a given key already exists in a dictionary](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/1602934/check-if-a-given-key-already-exists-in-a-dictionary) — sam-pyt, Jul 17 '17 at 17:04
**the output is just months**. What else do you expect `print('months')` to do? What should it do instead? — Barmar, Jul 17 '17 at 17:13

chickity china chinese chicken · Answer 1 · 2017-07-17T17:14:54.600

You'll want to cast the user input from what input() takes as string to an integer that you can compare to the keys() of your dictionary, and print the corresponding value of that key.

months = {1: 'January',
          2: 'February',
          3: 'March',
          4: 'April',
          5: 'May',
          6: 'June',
          7: 'July',
          8: 'August',
          9: 'September',
          10: 'October',
          11: 'November',
          12: 'December'}

choice = int(input('Enter an integer value for a month: ')) # cast user input to integer

if choice in months:        # check if user input exists in the dictionary keys
    print(months[choice])   # print corresponding key value
else:
    print('Bad month')

Demo:

Enter an integer value for a month: 4
April

Might as well cast it once and keep the cast in `choice`. – cs95 Jul 17 '17 at 17:06 — cs95, Jul 17 '17 at 17:06

patrick · Answer 2 · 2017-07-17T17:21:13.517

0

You can go several routes here. If you want to keep your code outline, try

if int(choice) in months:
    print('months')

else:
    print('Bad month')

As several comments suggested, a better approach might be to use the get syntax (tutorial).

months.get(input, "Bad Month")

Will check for input and if it can't find it, return Bad Month. Just print what the get function returns, and it'll do what you are looking for.

edited Jul 17 '17 at 17:21

answered Jul 17 '17 at 17:06

patrick

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Why use `in months.keys()` instead of just `in months` as in the question? – Barmar Jul 17 '17 at 17:12

Using if/then condition with dictionary object

2 Answers2