basic def / if question

[tryingtolearnpython]

Hi everyone,

I'm very new to Python so my questions may be very basic for most of you.

I am not sure I understand the below function. The part I am having trouble understanding is:

reactions = nacho_table.column('Reactions')
    number_wow_reactions = np.count_nonzero(reactions == 'Wow!')
    number_meh_reactions = np.count_nonzero(reactions == 'Meh.')

How does Python know nacho_table is a table and not an array?

def both_or_neither(nacho_table):
    reactions = nacho_table.column('Reactions')
    number_wow_reactions = np.count_nonzero(reactions == 'Wow!')
    number_meh_reactions = np.count_nonzero(reactions == 'Meh.')
    if number_wow_reactions > number_meh_reactions:
        return 'Wow!'
    elif number_wow_reactions < number_meh_reactions:
        return 'Meh.'
    else:
        return 'Okay!'
    # next condition should return 'Meh.'
    ...
    # next condition should return 'Okay!'
    ...

many_nachos = Table().with_column('Nachos', np.random.choice(nachos, 250))
many_nachos = many_nachos.with_column('Reactions', many_nachos.apply(nacho_reaction, 'Nachos'))
result = both_or_neither(many_nachos)
result

[j.crater]

A table is a class, and as such it has methods (method = function belonging to a class, if you haven't touched OOP part of the story yet, you will understand very well when you get there), such as "column".
If nacho_table wasn't a table, and thus not have "column" method, you would get an error.
This has probably happened to you before, if you tried to do arithmetic operations on "non-compatible" operands, or used some function on a data type, for which it isn't defined.

[tryingtolearnpython]

Hi J.Crater, thanks for the explanation. I think a lot of what you said went over my head :[ . Let me Google what you posted and I will try to make sense of it.