Question

OK, so I’ve finally started with math in python, which is (so far) surprisingly not as hard as I thought it would be(I don’t know any calculus, or trigonometry, and only know basic algebra).
I’m trying to create a program from scratch that factors quadratic equations. Here is what I have so far (Sorry if it’s poorly written):

def factor(arg):    
    o = arg
    n = o
    x = 2
    factors = [o]

    while abs(o) >= x:
        if (o) % x == 0:
            n = o / x
            factors.append(n)
            x += 1
        else:
            x += 1

    return factors

A = int(raw_input("What is A in your quadratic equation?   A = "))
B = int(raw_input("What is B in your quadratic equation?   B = "))
C = int(raw_input("What is C in your quadratic equation?   C = "))

Br = abs(B) + abs(A)            # Range of B
Bpf = range (-Br, Br + 1)       # Possible factors of B
ACpf = factor(A * C)            # Possible factors of (A * C)

for i in ABpf:
    ACpf.append(-i) 

cf = []                          # Common factors

for i in Bpf:
    for j in ACpf:
        if i == j:
            cf.append(i)

print cf

I ran this script through the terminal, it asked me what A B and C are, then it froze up for about thirty seconds. After it unfroze below what I typed it said ‘killed’.
Does anyone know what caused this? I appreciate any answers or advice.

Answer 1

Modify your code a bit like this:

def factor(arg):    
    o = arg
    n = o
    x = 2
    factors = [o]

    while abs(o) >= x:
    if (o) % x == 0:
        n = o / x
        factors.append(n)
        x += 1
    else:
        x += 1

    return factors

A = int(raw_input("What is A in your quadratic equation?   A = "))
B = int(raw_input("What is B in your quadratic equation?   B = "))
C = int(raw_input("What is C in your quadratic equation?   C = "))

Br = abs(B) + abs(A)            # Range of B
Bpf = range (-Br, Br + 1)       # Possible factors of B
ABpf = factor(A * C)            # Possible factors of (A * C)
ACpf = []
for i in ABpf:
    ACpf.append(i)
    ACpf.append(-1*i) 

cf = []                          # Common factors

for i in Bpf:
    for j in ACpf:
    if i == j:
        cf.append(i)

print cf

Now try running it. You should get a result.