Writing a program that takes a date as input and outputs the date's season

Question

Ex: If the input is:
April
11
the output is: Spring

In addition, check if the string and int are valid (an actual month and day). Ex: If the input is:
Blue
65
the output is: Invalid

The dates for each season are:
Spring: March 20 - June 20
Summer: June 21 - September 21
Autumn: September 22 - December 20
Winter: December 21 - March 19

I linked my code and it doesn't work for these 2 inputs (and I can't figure out why)
1.for November 7, my output is "Summer" when it should be "Autumn"
2.for September 31, my output is "Summer" when it should be "Invalid"

input_month = input()
input_day = int(input())
months= ('January', 'February','March', 'April' , 'May' , 'June' , 'July' , 'August' , 'September' , "October" , "November" , "December")

if not(input_month in months):
    print("Invalid")

elif input_month == 'March':
    if not(1<=input_day<=31):
        print ("Invalid")
    elif input_day<=19:
        print("Winter")
    else:
        print ("Spring")
elif input_month == 'April' :
    if not(1<=input_day<=30):
        print("Invalid")
    else:
        print("Spring")
elif input_month == 'May':
    if not(1<=input_day<=31):
        print("Invalid")
    else:
        print("Spring")
elif input_month == 'June':
    if not(1<=input_day<=30):
        print("Invalid")
    elif input_day<=20:
        print ("Spring")
    else:
        print("Summer")
elif input_month == 'July' or 'August':
    if not(1<=input_day<=31):
        print("Invalid")
    else: 
        print("Summer")
elif input_month == 'September':
    if not(1<=input_day<=30):
        print("Invalid")
    elif input_day<=21:
        print ("Summer")
    else:
        print ("Autumn")
elif input_month == "October":
    if not(1<=input_day<=31):
        print("Invalid")
    else:
        print("Autumn")
elif input_month == "November":
    if not(1<=input_day<=30):
        print("Invalid")
    else:
        print ("Autumn")
elif input_month == "December":
    if not(1<=input_day<=31):
        print("Invalid")
    elif input_day <=20:
        print ("Autumn")
    else:
        print ("Winter")
elif input_month == 'January':
    if not(1<=input_day<=31):
        print("Invalid")
    else:
        print("Winter")
elif input_month == "February":
    if not(1<=input_day<=29):
        print("Invalid")
    else:
        print ("Winter")

ThRnk · Accepted Answer · 2020-09-14T13:45:35.283

4

You have a wrong line of code:

elif input_month == 'July' or 'August':

It should be:

elif input_month == 'July' or input_month == 'August':

or

elif input_month in ('July', 'August')

As @Steven Rumbalski mentioned below.

The code input_month == 'July' or 'August' always evaluates to True.

As it is parsed as (input_month == 'July') or ('August').

Empty strings are considered False, and all other strings are considered True, so 'August' always evaluates to True.

edited Sep 14 '20 at 13:45

answered Sep 14 '20 at 13:32

ThRnk

575
2
19

It's helpful to explain why `input_month == 'July' or 'August'` always evaluates to `True`. This code is parsed as `(input_month == 'July') or ('August')`. Empty strings are considered `False`, and all other strings are considered `True`, so `'August'` always evaluates to `True`. Another way to fix the code is `elif input_month in ('July', 'August'):`. – Steven Rumbalski Sep 14 '20 at 13:40
@ThRnk Ah okay so it was the order of operations that messed it up. The program works now, but I don't really understand why that line of code messed it up for November 7 and September 31. Was it because the code was stuck at this line? Therefore not executing the later lines? elif input_month == 'June': if not(1<=input_day<=30): print("Invalid") elif input_day<=20: print ("Spring") else: print("Summer") – help_me_pls Sep 14 '20 at 13:44
@StevenRumbalski Oh I didn't know that. Thank you. But even when `input_month == 'July' or 'August'` evaluated to `True`, shouldn't the lines of code for `November` and `September` execute? Therefore, outputting `Autumn` and `Invalid`, respetively? – help_me_pls Sep 14 '20 at 13:48
As it always is evaluated to `True`, if it didn't enter any `if block` above that line, it will enter that one, and see if `not(1<=input_day<=31)`, printing `Invalid` or `Summer`. – ThRnk Sep 14 '20 at 13:51
@help_me_pls: No. The test `input_month == 'July' or 'August'` always evaluates to `True` no matter the value for `input_month`. – Steven Rumbalski Sep 14 '20 at 13:52

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Sep 18 '22 at 00:54

input_month = input()
input_day = int(input())

months= ('January', 'February','March', 'April' , 'May' , 'June' , 'July' , 
'August' , 'September' , "October" , "November" , "December")

if not(input_month in months):
    print("Invalid")

elif input_month == 'March':
    if not(1<=input_day<=31):
        print ("Invalid")
    elif input_day<=19:
        print("Winter")
    else:
        print ("Spring")
elif input_month == 'April' :
    if not(1<=input_day<=30):
        print("Invalid")
    else:
        print("Spring")
elif input_month == 'May':
    if not(1<=input_day<=31):
        print("Invalid")
    else:
        print("Spring")
elif input_month == 'June':
    if not(1<=input_day<=30):
        print("Invalid")
    elif input_day<=20:
        print ("Spring")
    else:
        print("Summer")
elif input_month == 'July' or input_month == 'August':
    if not(1<=input_day<=31):
        print("Invalid")
    else: 
        print("Summer")
elif input_month == 'September':
    if not(1<=input_day<=30):
        print("Invalid")
    elif input_day<=21:
        print ("Summer")
    else:
        print ("Autumn")
elif input_month == "October":
    if not(1<=input_day<=31):
        print("Invalid")
    else:
        print("Autumn")
elif input_month == "November":
    if not(1<=input_day<=30):
        print("Invalid")
    else:
        print ("Autumn")
elif input_month == "December":
    if not(1<=input_day<=31):
        print("Invalid")
    elif input_day <=20:
        print ("Autumn")
    else:
        print ("Winter")
elif input_month == 'January':
    if not(1<=input_day<=31):
        print("Invalid")
    else:
        print("Winter")
elif input_month == "February":
    if not(1<=input_day<=29):
        print("Invalid")
    else:
        print ("Winter")

Your answer could be improved with additional supporting information. Please [edit] to add further details, such as citations or documentation, so that others can confirm that your answer is correct. You can find more information on how to write good answers [in the help center](/help/how-to-answer). — Community, Sep 22 '22 at 05:15

rmazur7831 · Answer 3 · 2022-05-18T17:53:41.270

input_month = input()
input_day = int(input())
months= ('January', 'February','March', 'April' , 'May' , 'June' , 'July' , 
'August' , 'September' , "October" , "November" , "December")

if not(input_month in months):
print("Invalid")

elif input_month == 'March':
  if not(1<=input_day<=31):
    print ("Invalid")
elif input_day<=19:
    print("Winter")
else:
    print ("Spring")
elif input_month == 'April' :
  if not(1<=input_day<=30):
    print("Invalid")
else:
    print("Spring")
elif input_month == 'May':
  if not(1<=input_day<=31):
    print("Invalid")
else:
    print("Spring")
elif input_month == 'June':
  if not(1<=input_day<=30):
    print("Invalid")
elif input_day<=20:
    print ("Spring")
else:
    print("Summer")
elif input_month == 'July' or input_month == 'August':
  if not(1<=input_day<=31):
    print("Invalid")
else: 
    print("Summer")
elif input_month == 'September':
  if not(1<=input_day<=30):
    print("Invalid")
elif input_day>=30:
    print ("Summer")
else:
    print ("Autumn")
elif input_month == "October":
  if not(1<=input_day<=31):
    print("Invalid")
else:
    print("Autumn")
elif input_month == "November":
  if not(1<=input_day<=30):
    print("Invalid")
else:
    print ("Autumn")
elif input_month == "December":
  if not(1<=input_day<=31):
    print("Invalid")
elif input_day <=20:
    print ("Autumn")
else:
    print ("Winter")
elif input_month == 'January':
  if not(1<=input_day<=31):
    print("Invalid")
else:
    print("Winter")
elif input_month == "February":
  if not(1<=input_day<=29):
    print("Invalid")
else:
    print ("Winter")

#You did a good job on the code help_me_pls, just a couple of mistakes using the <> #This code now passes all tests.

score -2 · Answer 4 · answered Oct 01 '22 at 06:43

input_month = input()
input_day = int(input())
if input_month in ('April', 'May'):
    print('Spring')
elif input_month in ('June','July', 'August'):
    print('Summer')
elif input_month in ('October', 'November'):
    print('Autumn')
elif input_month in ('January', 'March'):
    print("Winter")
elif input_month == 'June' and (input_day == range(1, 20)):
    print("Spring")
elif input_month == 'June' and (input_day == range(21, 30)):
    print("Summer")
elif input_month == 'September' and (input_day == range(1, 21)):
    print("Summer")
elif input_month == 'September' and (input_day == range(22, 30)):
    print("Autumn")
elif input_month == 'December' and (input_day == range(1, 20)):
    print("Autumn")
elif input_month == 'December' and (input_day == range(21, 31)):
    print("Winter")
elif input_month == 'March' and (input_day == range(1, 19)):
    print("Winter")
elif input_month == 'March' and (input_day == range(20, 31)):
    print("Spring")
elif input_month == 'February' and (input_day == range(1, 28)):
    print("Winter")
else:
    print("Invalid")

Rather than just posting your own code without any explanation, you should try and address the question asked. Please take a look at [how to answer](https://stackoverflow.com/help/how-to-answer). — AlexK, Oct 05 '22 at 02:34

Writing a program that takes a date as input and outputs the date's season

4 Answers4