Codio Challenge We will pass you 2 inputs: – A list of numbers – A number, N, to look for Your job is to loop through the list and find the number specified in the second input. Output the index of the list element where you find the number. If N is not found in the list, output -1. Tip: Remember the break statement? It exits the loop. You can (but don’t have to) use this. # Get our input from the command line import sys N = int(sys.argv[2]) # Convert the list of strings into integers numbers = [] for i in sys.argv[1].split(“,”): if i.isdigit(): numbers.append(int(i)) # numbers now contains the list of integers # Write your code below
The Correct Answer and Explanation is:
Here’s the correct solution to the Codio challenge:
pythonCopyEdit# Get our input from the command line
import sys
N = int(sys.argv[2]) # The number to look for
# Convert the list of strings into integers
numbers = []
for i in sys.argv[1].split(","):
if i.isdigit():
numbers.append(int(i))
# Now search for N in the list
found_index = -1 # Default if N is not found
for index in range(len(numbers)):
if numbers[index] == N:
found_index = index
break # Exit loop when number is found
print(found_index)
💡 Explanation
This Python script is designed to accept two inputs from the command line:
- A comma-separated list of numbers (as a single string), and
- A target number (an integer) to search for in that list.
Let’s break the program down:
Step 1: Reading Input
pythonCopyEditN = int(sys.argv[2])
The second command-line argument is the number to search for, which we convert from a string to an integer.
Step 2: Processing the List
pythonCopyEditfor i in sys.argv[1].split(","):
if i.isdigit():
numbers.append(int(i))
We take the first command-line argument (sys.argv[1]), which is a string like "3,7,1,9", and split it by commas. We then check if each element is a digit using .isdigit() and convert it to an integer before adding it to the numbers list.
Step 3: Searching for the Number
pythonCopyEditfor index in range(len(numbers)):
if numbers[index] == N:
found_index = index
break
We loop through the list using range() to track indices. If we find a match (numbers[index] == N), we store the index and immediately break the loop.
Step 4: Output the Result
pythonCopyEditprint(found_index)
If the number was found, we print its index; otherwise, we print -1 (default value).
This approach is efficient and readable. The break statement helps us avoid unnecessary iterations once we find the number.
