Welcome to the Treehouse Community

Want to collaborate on code errors? Have bugs you need feedback on? Looking for an extra set of eyes on your latest project? Get support with fellow developers, designers, and programmers of all backgrounds and skill levels here with the Treehouse Community! While you're at it, check out some resources Treehouse students have shared here.

Looking to learn something new?

Treehouse offers a seven day free trial for new students. Get access to thousands of hours of content and join thousands of Treehouse students and alumni in the community today.

Start your free trial

Python Python Basics (2015) Number Game App Squared

Posted by Jason Gabianelli
Jason Gabianelli
1,002 Points

I'm having trouble with the squared activity in python basics.

I keep getting issues with returning the right stuff. I think the problem is something to do with my if statement but I'm not sure how to fix it.

squared.py 
# EXAMPLES
# squared(5) would return 25
# squared("2") would return 4
# squared("tim") would return "timtimtim"
def squared(the_int):
    try:
        if the_int == int(the_int):
            return the_int ** 2
    except ValueError:
        return len(the_int) * the_int

1 Answer

Ari Misha
Ari Misha
19,323 Points
Ari Misha
Ari Misha
19,323 Points

Hiya Jason! You're close but you've over-complicated your own code and made it bit messy. Your code should look like this:

def squared(args):
    try:
        args = int(args)
        return(args ** 2)
    except:
        return(args * len(args))
Jason Gabianelli
Jason Gabianelli
1,002 Points

Thank you!