Can't check if key belongs to values

Question

The short() function below doesn't work. full() works completely fine. Is there a solution, or do I have to make another directory where key and value are swapped?

import random

elements = {"Sc":"Scandium",
           "Ti":"Titanium",
           "V":"Vanadium",
           "Cr":"Chromium",
           "Mn":"Manganum",
           "Fe":"Ferrum"}


def short():
    question = random.choice(list(elements.values()))
    print(question)
    answer = input("What is the short name of this element?: ")
    if answer == elements[question]:
        print("Right")


def full():
    question = random.choice(list(elements.keys()))
    print(question)
    answer = input("What is the full name of this element?: ")
    if answer == elements[question]:
        print("Right")


mode = input("Do you want to guess the short or full name? (sh/fu): ").lower()

if mode == "sh":
    short()

elif mode == "fu":
    full()

Does this answer your question? [How to implement an efficient bidirectional hash table?](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/3318625/how-to-implement-an-efficient-bidirectional-hash-table) — BrokenBenchmark, Mar 03 '22 at 21:20

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 03 '22 at 21:22

I changed my mind. You don't need a reverse dict.

Just structure short() slightly differently:

import random

elements = {"Sc":"Scandium",
           "Ti":"Titanium",
           "V":"Vanadium",
           "Cr":"Chromium",
           "Mn":"Manganum",
           "Fe":"Ferrum"}

def short():
    question = random.choice(list(elements.keys()))
    print(elements[question])
    answer = input("What is the short name of this element?: ")
    if answer == question:
        print("Right")

def full():
    question = random.choice(list(elements.keys()))
    print(question)
    answer = input("What is the full name of this element?: ")
    if answer == elements[question]:
        print("Right")

mode = input("Do you want to guess the short or full name? (sh/fu): ").lower()

if mode == "sh":
    short()

elif mode == "fu":
    full()

short() now selects a key at random just like full(), but asks the question in terms of the long name which is easily accessible in the forwards direction.

Can't check if key belongs to values

1 Answers1