Getting division by zero python

Question

this is my code.

def percent_of_goal(donation, goal): 
    """ percentofgoal
    """
    perc = float(goal/donation)
    return  100/perc

but when I do print(percent_of_goal(0, 1000)) with 0 as the donation, I get a zero division error? how do I fix this?

error message:

*** RUN TIME ERROR(S) ***
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "source.py", line 8, in <module>
    result = percent_of_goal(0, 1000)
  File "source.py", line 4, in percent_of_goal
    perc = goal/donation
ZeroDivisionError: division by zero

[if statements](https://docs.python.org/3/tutorial/controlflow.html#if-statements) — Nick is tired, Mar 14 '19 at 20:46
duplicate: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/27317517/make-division-by-zero-equal-to-zero/28953601 — BugHunter, Mar 14 '19 at 20:51
Your error message indicates that there is a ZeroDivisionError on the line that contains "perc = goal/donation". When this happens, the first debugging step is to ask yourself how come "donation" is equal to 0 :) — KevinG, Mar 14 '19 at 20:52

Jonathan Hamel · Answer 1 · 2019-03-14T20:53:36.177

1

The first line in your function is causing the problem... perc = float(goal/donation)

Reverse your ratio by replacing with this (Considering this note: You do not need to deal with the case of a goal of zero):

def percent_of_goal(donation, goal): 
    """ percentofgoal
    """
    return (donation/goal) * 100

Otherwise, just add a simple if statement:

def percent_of_goal(donation, goal): 
    """ percentofgoal
    """
    return (donation/goal) * 100 if goal != 0 else 0

edited Mar 14 '19 at 20:53

answered Mar 14 '19 at 20:47

Jonathan Hamel

1,393
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18

Note: You do not need to deal with the case of a goal of zero. – Jonathan Hamel Mar 14 '19 at 20:49

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 14 '19 at 20:48

0

To calculate the donation-to-goal ratio, you should divide donation by the goal, rather than the other way around:

def percent_of_goal(donation, goal): 
    perc = donation / goal
    return  perc * 100

answered Mar 14 '19 at 20:48

blhsing

91,368
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score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Mar 14 '19 at 20:56

Before using the division operator, you should always check that your denominator is valid, and provide an alternate output that is appropriate to your use case.

In this example, perhaps you want a function like this instead of using /:

def protected_div(n, d):
    return float(n)/d if d != 0 else 0

score -1 · Answer 4 · answered Mar 14 '19 at 21:00

-1

The problem is you can not divide by zero (just regular math) perhaps you could try using an if statement, where the perc returns zero if the donation <= 0:

if donation <= 0:
  perc = 0
else:
  perc = goal/donation

answered Mar 14 '19 at 21:00

5824

3
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Getting division by zero python

4 Answers4