Question

So I have the function integral(function, n=1000, start=0, stop=100) defined in nums.py:

def integral(function, n=1000, start=0, stop=100):
    """Returns integral of function from start to stop with 'n' rectangles"""
    increment, num, x = float(stop - start) / n, 0, start
    while x <= stop:
        num += eval(function)
        if x >= stop: break
        x += increment
    return increment * num

However, my teacher (for my Programming class) wants us to create a separate program that gets the input using input() and then returns it. So, I have:

def main():
    from nums import integral # imports the function that I made in my own 'nums' module
    f, n, a, b = get_input()
    result = integral(f, n, a, b)
    msg = "\nIntegration of " + f + " is: " + str(result)
    print(msg)

def get_input():
    f = str(input("Function (in quotes, eg: 'x^2'; use 'x' as the variable): ")).replace('^', '**')
    # The above makes it Python-evaluable and also gets the input in one line
    n = int(input("Numbers of Rectangles (enter as an integer, eg: 1000): "))
    a = int(input("Start-Point (enter as an integer, eg: 0): "))
    b = int(input("End-Point (enter as an integer, eg: 100): "))
    return f, n, a, b

main()

When run in Python 2.7, it works fine:

>>> 
Function (in quotes, eg: 'x^2'; use 'x' as the variable): 'x**2'
Numbers of Rectangles (enter as an integer, eg: 1000): 1000
Start-Point (enter as an integer, eg: 0): 0
End-Point (enter as an integer, eg: 100): 100

Integration of x**2 is: 333833.5

However, in Python 3.3 (which my teacher insists we use), it raises an error in my integral function, with the same exact input:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "D:\my_stuff\Google Drive\documents\SCHOOL\Programming\Python\Programming Class\integration.py", line 20, in <module>
    main()
  File "D:\my_stuff\Google Drive\documents\SCHOOL\Programming\Python\Programming Class\integration.py", line 8, in main
    result = integral(f, n, a, b)
  File "D:\my_stuff\Google Drive\Modules\nums.py", line 142, in integral
    num += eval(function)
TypeError: unsupported operand type(s) for +=: 'int' and 'str'

In addition, integral by itself (in Python 3.3) works fine:

>>> from nums import integral
>>> integral('x**2')
333833.4999999991

Because of that, I believe the fault is in my program for my class… Any and all help is appreciated. Thanks 🙂

Answer 1

The issue you’re running into is that input works differently in Python 2 and Python 3. In Python 3, the input function works like the raw_input does in Python 2. Python 2’s input function is equivalent to eval(input()) in Python 3.

You’re getting into trouble because of the quoteation marks you’re typing with the formula. When you type 'x**2' (with the quotes) as your formula when running on Python 2, the text gets evaled in the input function and you get a string with no quotation marks as the result. This works.

When you give the same string to Python 3’s input function, it doesn’t do an eval, so the quotation marks remain. When you later eval the formula as part of your integral calculation, you get the string x**2 (without any quotation marks) as the result, not the value of x squared. This results in an exception when you try the string to 0.

To fix this, I suggest either using just one version of Python, or putting the following code at the top of your file to get a Python 3 style input in both versions:

# ensure we have Python 3 semantics from input, even in Python 2
try:
    input = raw_input
except NameError:
    pass

Then just type in your formula without quotation marks and it should work correctly.