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I have been set a simple task:

Write a program for a game where the computer generates a random starting number between 20 and 30. The player and the computer can remove 1,2 or 3 from the number in turns. Something like this... Starting number : 25 How many do you want to remove? 3 22 left Computer removes 2 20 left The player who has to remove the last value to bring the number down to 0 is the loser. 1 left Computer removes 1 You win!

I am trying to create it so that the player can only enter numbers 1, 2 or 3 to remove.

I get the syntax error of invalid syntax where the if statement is:

import random
import time

start=random.randint(20,30)

print('Starting number is',start)

personremove=int(input('How many do you want to remove? '))

if personremove=<3 or >1:
    print('Enter a number between 1 and 3')
    personremove=int(input('How many do you want to remove? '))


current=start-personremove

print(current,'left')

compremove=random.randint(1,3)

current=start-personremove-compremove

print('Computer removes',compremove)

print(current,'left')

Any help would be greatly appreciated, I am only a beginner to python as you can probably tell.

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  • what do you think this is supposed to do? if personremove=<3 or >1: this isn't valid Python. Commented Apr 9, 2013 at 21:02

5 Answers 5

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6

if personremove=<3 or >1: should be

if personremove <= 3 or personremove > 1:
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2 Comments

The logic is incorrect. The statement should only be True if the number is outside the range of 1 - 3..
I'm with @MartijnPieters here ... I'm pretty sure this test will be true for any number. Although, with OP's original statement, it's a little ambiguous to try to parse out what was originally meant.
3

You need to re-order those statements:

if 1 < personremove <= 3:

python's or operator requires an object or expression on both the left and the right. As you've written it, you have another operator on the right which is illegal. also, =< isn't a python operator. It is <=.

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2 Comments

This will be true for personremove equal to 2 or 3, which is not what the OP wanted, I think. He wants it to be true when the value is outside the values 1, 2 or 3..
@MartijnPieters -- I honestly don't know. I suppose if I can't parse it, it makes it pretty easy to argue why python's interpreter can't parse it either :)
2

personremove=<3 or >1 is not a legal expression. Use:

if not (1 <= personremove <= 3):

This makes use of chained comparison operators; it roughly means the same as:

if personremove < 1 or personremove > 3:

but personremove is evaluated only once, and we made it clearer that the number is outside the range 1 - 3.

You probably wanted to use a while loop instead, to keep asking for a correct number:

personremove = 0
while not (1 <= personremove <= 3):
    print('Enter a number between 1 and 3')
    try:
        personremove = int(input('How many do you want to remove? '))
    except ValueError:
        pass
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Martijn.personmove(where=BED)
0

your if statement only needs sligthly tweaking. Try:

if 1 <= personremove <= 3:
    ...

Hope that helps

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0

There are several errors:

  1. Your instructions are inconsistent. The only whole integer that is Between 1 and 3 is 2. But surely that is not what you meant. You meant Enter either 1, 2 or 3.
  2. You have the syntax of the greater than backward. It should be personremove > 3 read personremove is greater than 3.

  3. You cannot just add on >1 after the or, you must again state what variable should be related to 1. This will work personremove < 1

    if personremove < 1 or personremove > 3:

There are also better ways to code this in general. Putting this section into a loop, for example.

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