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Week 1 Checkpoint: Variables, Strings, and Decisions — Python For Students

Week 1 Checkpoint: Variables, Strings, and Decisions — Python For Students | zuzu.codes

Day 8 · ~11 min●

Five days, five functions. format_response, clean_response_text, format_summary_line, is_valid_response, categorize_satisfaction. Which one surprised you most?

Honestly, format_summary_line with {:,.2f}. I had no idea that one format spec handles both the comma separator and the decimal places. I've been doing those separately in Excel forever.

And now you never separate them again. What about the validation logic on Day 6?

The boolean return from is_valid_response clicked once I saw that an empty string is falsy. My entire ISBLANK workaround from Excel was one Python expression.

A workaround that's been your standard procedure for two years, solved in a condition. High bar, cleared.

Week 1 is behind me. Let's check what actually stuck.

Six questions, all drawn from this week's functions. These five are your Python toolkit now — let's make sure the foundations are solid.

Quiz

0/6

6 questions80% to passretry anytime

1.What does format_response('Year', 'Junior') return?

def format_response(field: str, value: str) -> str:
    result = f"{field}: {value}"
    return result

"Year: Junior""field: value""Year - Junior""Junior: Year"

2.What does clean_response_text(' POLI SCI ') return?

def clean_response_text(raw: str) -> str:
    return raw.strip().lower().replace(' ', '_')

"poli_sci""poli-sci"" poli sci ""poli sci"

3.What does format_summary_line('Senior', 1500, 3.9999) return?

def format_summary_line(demographic, count, avg_score):
    return f"{demographic} | Responses: {count:,} | Avg Satisfaction: {avg_score:.2f}"

4.What does is_valid_response({'major': 'Bio', 'year': ''}, ['major', 'year']) return?

def is_valid_response(response, required_fields):
    for field in required_fields:
        if field not in response or not response[field]:
            return False
    return True

TrueFalseNoneKeyError

5.What does categorize_satisfaction(4.0, 2.5, 4.0) return?

def categorize_satisfaction(score, mid, high):
    if score < mid:
        return 'low'
    elif score < high:
        return 'medium'
    else:
        return 'high'

"low""medium""high"None

6.Which f-string correctly formats 42 as 'Responses: 42'?

f"Responses: {42}"f"Responses: 42""Responses: {42}"f'Responses: ' + 42