Need help on Python Decrementing

Question

OK! I got this code that does not work properly, Here is the code:

def abDucks (a,b): 
while (a>1): 
print(a, "Little Ducks swimming in the sea") 
print("And if ",b," Little Ducks should accidentally drown") 
print("There'll be ", (a-b), "Little Ducks swimming in the sea\n") 
a=(a-b) 

if (a<=1): 
print(a, "Little Ducks swimming in the sea") 
print("And if ",b," Little Ducks should accidentally drown") 
print("There'll be no Little Ducks swimming in the sea\n")

The problem I have is that it counts to 0 and then it will print: And if no little ducks should accidentally drown There'll be no Little Ducks swimming in the sea

Please Help

I never did get an infinite loop lol :P This is what happens when I run this code using (8,2)

8 Little Ducks swimming in the sea 
And if 2 Little Ducks should accidentally drown 
There'll be 6 Little Ducks swimming in the sea 

6 Little Ducks swimming in the sea 
And if 2 Little Ducks should accidentally drown 
There'll be 4 Little Ducks swimming in the sea 

4 Little Ducks swimming in the sea 
And if 2 Little Ducks should accidentally drown 
There'll be 2 Little Ducks swimming in the sea 

2 Little Ducks swimming in the sea 
And if 2 Little Ducks should accidentally drown 
There'll be 0 Little Ducks swimming in the sea 

0 Little Ducks swimming in the sea 
And if 2 Little Ducks should accidentally drown 
There'll be no Little Ducks swimming in the sea

Please edit the post with the correct indentation. Remember that indentation in Python is extremely important. — Christian Tapia
– Christian Tapia, Commented Mar 15, 2014 at 6:35
I rolled back the edit. Lynch, let OP do the indenting his or herself. We can make a really good guess, but I'd prefer to see what the actual indentation is. — AndyG
– AndyG, Commented Mar 15, 2014 at 6:42

thefourtheye · Accepted Answer · 2014-03-15 06:42:21Z

3

You could write the same code, succinctly, like this

def abDucks (a,b): 
    while (a - b >= 1):
        print(a, "Little Ducks swimming in the sea")
        print("And if ",b," Little Ducks should accidentally drown")
        print("There'll be ", (a-b), "Little Ducks swimming in the sea\n")
        a -= b
    else:
        print(a, "Little Ducks swimming in the sea")
        print("And if ",b," Little Ducks should accidentally drown")
        print("There'll be no Little Ducks swimming in the sea\n")

With this change, the output becomes

8 Little Ducks swimming in the sea
And if  2  Little Ducks should accidentally drown
There'll be  6 Little Ducks swimming in the sea

6 Little Ducks swimming in the sea
And if  2  Little Ducks should accidentally drown
There'll be  4 Little Ducks swimming in the sea

4 Little Ducks swimming in the sea
And if  2  Little Ducks should accidentally drown
There'll be  2 Little Ducks swimming in the sea

2 Little Ducks swimming in the sea
And if  2  Little Ducks should accidentally drown
There'll be no Little Ducks swimming in the sea

answered Mar 15, 2014 at 6:42

thefourtheye

241k53 gold badges466 silver badges505 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

1 Comment

user3422457 Over a year ago

Thanks man, this really helped out a lot, Ive been trying to figure this out since yesterday and did not understand what was happening. Thank you so much!

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Need help on Python Decrementing

1 Answer 1

1 Comment

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

1 Answer 1

1 Comment

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related