Question

Here is a dumbed down version of my program that I am using as an example.

I know that using GOTO is bad practice, because it leads to sloppy and confusing code, however it would be perfect for solving this problem that I have (problem detailed at bottom of post).

def prompt():
    while True:
        user_input = raw_input:
        if input == '?':
            print help_o
        elif not user_input.isalpha():
            print "You entered bad characters"
        elif user_input == 'r': ##Restart
            ???????????
        else:
            return user_input


load_word_list() ##Load words into list

for word in wordList: ##Loop that needs to restart
    for i in range(5):
        to_speak = "Spell, %s" %word
        subprocess.Popen(['espeak', to_speak])
        answer = prompt()
        if answer != word:
            print "You got it wrong"


#Print results

At the Prompt, I want to reload the wordList list and restart the outer for loop.

With GOTO I could just put in place of ????… GOTO load_word_list().

But since this is Python (and Python is about good code), What is the Pythonic way to solve this problem?

Answer 1

Another take on jsbuenos solution. This actually does re-run the outer for loop.

def prompt():
    while True:
        user_input = raw_input()
        if input == '?':
            print help_o
        elif not user_input.isalpha():
            print "You entered bad characters"
        elif user_input == 'r': #Restart
            raise RestartException
        else:
            return user_input


class RestartException(Exception):
    pass


while True:
    load_word_list() ##Load words into list
    try:
        for word in wordList: ##Loop that needs to restart
            for i in range(5):
                to_speak = "Spell, %s" %word
                subprocess.Popen(['espeak', to_speak])
                answer = prompt()
                if answer != word:
                    print "You got it wrong"
    except RestartException:
        # catch the exception and return to while loop
        pass
    else:
        # exit while loop
        break