Why does my code run but not actually perform its assigned function

Question

So I've been writing simple python functions to test out methods and learn what they do, but many times I'll run the code and nothing happens. I'm very confused because I've checked the syntax but it just doesn't do anything.

Country = "italy"
if Country == "italy":
    Country.capitalize()
    Country.center(15)

print(Country)

this should printout ' Italy ' or something similar but it just returns "italy" everytime. I tried the methods seperately and they seem to work.

timko.mate · Answer 1 · 2021-07-09T13:44:36.207

0

Try:

country = "italy"
if country == "italy":
    country = Country.capitalize()
    country = Country.center(15)

print(country)

edited Jul 09 '21 at 13:44

answered Jul 09 '21 at 13:42

timko.mate

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An additional hint: Look at the {Style Guide for Python Code](https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0008/). `Country` should be `country`. – Matthias Jul 09 '21 at 13:43
Thank you - that makes sense now I think about it – Hafolas Jul 09 '21 at 14:02

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 09 '21 at 13:55

Like @Carcigenicate said the function Capitalize() returns a string. You would have to assign the returned string to your variable Capitalize. Example:

Country = "italy"
if Country == "italy":
    Country = Country.capitalize()
    Country = Country.center(15)

print(Country)

You can view the official documentation here which describes the input and return type of the function.

Why does my code run but not actually perform its assigned function

2 Answers2