Question

codes = ["A", "B", "C", "D", "E"]
random.shuffle(codes)

    def print_message(message):
        print "\n"
        print "-"*10
        print message
        print "-"*10
        print "\n"

    print_message('This is a test of the %s system' % codes[0])

How do I then do an if statement for the results of the print_message(‘This… ‘) based on the random letter that is presented.

Example. If the result of codes[0] ended up being “A” for the print_message() then you would see this printed on the screen:

----------
This is a test of the A system. 
The A system is really great. 
---------

Run the command a few more times and you’d see:

----------
This is a test of the C system.
The C system sucks. 
----------

----------
This is a test of the B system. 
The B system has improved greatly over the years. 
----------

Answer 1

This would give you the results of the examples in your question:

#! /usr/bin/env python
import random
codes = ["A", "B", "C", "D", "E"]
random.shuffle(codes)

def print_sys_result(sys_code):
    results = {
        "A": "is really great",
        "B": "has improved greatly over the years",
        "C": "sucks",
        "D": "screwed us up really badly",
        "E": "stinks like monkey balls"
    }
    print "\n"
    print "-"*10
    print 'This is a test of the {0} system'.format(sys_code)
    if sys_code in results:
        print "The {0} system {1}.".format(sys_code, results[sys_code])
    else:
        print "No results available for system " + sys_code
    print "-"*10
    print "\n"

print_sys_result(codes[0])