Playing the Alphabet War in Python

1 min read 335 words

The challenge

Introduction

There is a war and nobody knows – the alphabet war!
There are two groups of hostile letters. The tension between left side letters and right side letters was too high and the war began.

Task

Write a function that accepts fight string consists of only small letters and return who wins the fight. When the left side wins return Left side wins!, when the right side wins return Right side wins!, in other case return Let's fight again!.

The left side letters and their power:

 w - 4
 p - 3
 b - 2
 s - 1

The right side letters and their power:

 m - 4
 q - 3
 d - 2
 z - 1

The other letters don’t have power and are only victims.

Example

AlphabetWar("z");        //=> Right side wins!
AlphabetWar("zdqmwpbs"); //=> Let's fight again!
AlphabetWar("zzzzs");    //=> Right side wins!
AlphabetWar("wwwwwwz");  //=> Left side wins!

The solution in Python code

Option 1:

def alphabet_war(fight):
    left = {
        'w': 4,
        'p': 3,
        'b': 2,
        's': 1
    }
    right = {
        'm': 4,
        'q': 3,
        'd': 2,
        'z': 1
    }
    
    score = 0
    
    for i in list(fight):
        if i in left:
            score -= left[i]
        elif i in right:
            score += right[i]
            
    if score > 0:
        return "Right side wins!"
    elif score < 0:
        return "Left side wins!"
    else:
        return "Let's fight again!"

Option 2:

def alphabet_war(fight):
    d = {'w':4,'p':3,'b':2,'s':1,
         'm':-4,'q':-3,'d':-2,'z':-1}
    r = sum(d[c] for c in fight if c in d)
    
    return {r==0:"Let's fight again!",
            r>0:"Left side wins!",
            r<0:"Right side wins!"
            }[True]

Option 3:

def alphabet_war(fight):
    a, b = 'sbpw', 'zdqm'
    l, r = sum([a.find(x)+1 for x in fight]), sum([b.find(y)+1 for y in fight])
    return "Right side wins!" if l<r else "Left side wins!" if r<l else "Let's fight again!" 

Test cases to validate our solution

import test
from solution import alphabet_war

@test.describe("Fixed Tests")
def fixed_tests():
    @test.it('Basic Test Cases')
    def basic_test_cases():
        test.assert_equals(alphabet_war("z"), "Right side wins!")
        test.assert_equals(alphabet_war("zdqmwpbs"), "Let's fight again!")
        test.assert_equals(alphabet_war("wq"), "Left side wins!")
        test.assert_equals(alphabet_war("zzzzs"), "Right side wins!")
        test.assert_equals(alphabet_war("wwwwww"), "Left side wins!")
Tags:
Andrew
Andrew

Andrew is a visionary software engineer and DevOps expert with a proven track record of delivering cutting-edge solutions that drive innovation at Ataiva.com. As a leader on numerous high-profile projects, Andrew brings his exceptional technical expertise and collaborative leadership skills to the table, fostering a culture of agility and excellence within the team. With a passion for architecting scalable systems, automating workflows, and empowering teams, Andrew is a sought-after authority in the field of software development and DevOps.

Tags