Question

I have this code.

c = getch()
if c == "r":                                                                   
  return randrange(101, len(mylist) - 1) 
if c == "u":                                                        
  return 100               
if c == "b":      
  return -2                
if c == "w":    
  return -3                
if c == "m":
  return -4                
if c == "d":
  return -5                
if c == "e":
  return -6                
if c == "k":
  return -7
if c == "g":
  return -8
if c == "p":
  return -9
if c == "o":
  right = center - 1       
else:                      
  left = center + 1

Can I make this code snippet more compact? How would you write it better?

thank you

Answer 1

You can use a dictionary:

# Special case.
if c == "r":                                                                   
    return randrange(101, len(list) - 1) 

# This is constant. It could be generated once at program start.
d = { 'u' : 100, ...., 'p' : -9 }

# This covers the majority of the cases.
if c in d:
    return d[c]

# Some more special cases.
if c == "o":
   right = center - 1       
else:                      
   left = center + 1