Python - TypeError: string indices must be integers

Question

For some reason this piece of script is returning the error: "TypeError: string indices must be integers"; and I cannot see what's wrong. Am I being stupid and overlooking an obvious mistake here? I can't see one for the life of me!

terms = {"ALU":"Arithmetic Logic Unit"}
term = input("Type in a term you wish to see: ")

if term in terms:
    definition = term[terms]
    sentence = term + " - " + definition
    print(sentence)
else:
    print("Term doesn't exist.")

Jesus Christ, do I feel stupid! Thanks all for pointing me in the right direction. — RoyalSwish, Jan 24 '14 at 16:18

score 3 · Answer 1 · answered Jan 24 '14 at 16:15

3

I think you want it this way: definition = terms[term]

answered Jan 24 '14 at 16:15

Paulo Bu

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score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 24 '14 at 16:16

3

This line definition = term[terms] is trying to get a character out of the string term. You probably just typoed, and want

definition = terms[term]
                 ^ here, reference the dict, not the string

answered Jan 24 '14 at 16:16

CDspace

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score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Jan 24 '14 at 16:15

2

You are indexing the string term instead of the dictionary terms. Try:

definition = terms[term]

answered Jan 24 '14 at 16:15

mdml

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score 2 · Answer 4 · edited Jan 24 '14 at 16:21

2

You accidentally swapped the variables. Change this:

definition = term[terms]

To this:

definition = terms[term]

edited Jan 24 '14 at 16:21

Paolo

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answered Jan 24 '14 at 16:20

nQue

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Python - TypeError: string indices must be integers

4 Answers4

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