Trying to include a counter on a student flashcard program

[kwade]

I did a student flashcard program and want to include a right/wrong counter for each student session. The program works except for the iteration counter. My last try is below, which returns a "local variable not associated with value" error. If I start the function with values def add_flashcards(right =0, wrong =0), it runs but doesn't give cumulative right/wrong when you do more iterations.

Any ideas how to make this work? Thanks!

 

[VBService]

Add global right, wrong at the start of your function so Python knows you're referring to the global variables.

from os import system
import random

system("cls")
right = 0
wrong = 0

def add_flashcards():
    global right, wrong  # <-- Fix here
    system('cls')

    card_one = random.randint(0, 10)
    card_two = random.randint(0, 10)
    correct = card_one + card_two
  
    ...

add_flashcards()

But you can pass and return values recursively (no global vars).
This version avoids global state and is better for scalability and testing.
A working version of the code online.

import random, os  # Import random for generating numbers, os for clearing the screen


# Function to clear the terminal screen (Windows or Unix-based systems)
def clear_screen():
    os.system("cls" if os.name == "nt" else "clear")


# Main function to handle flashcards logic
def add_flashcards(right=0, wrong=0):
    clear_screen()  # Clear screen at the beginning of each round
  
    # Generate two random numbers between 0 and 10
    card_one = random.randint(0, 10)
    card_two = random.randint(0, 10)
    correct = card_one + card_two  # Calculate the correct answer

    # Ask the user to solve the addition problem
    answer = input(f"{card_one} + {card_two} = ")

    # Check if the user's answer is correct
    if int(answer) == correct:
        print(f"Correct! You're right. This is {correct}")
        right += 1  # Increment correct counter
    else:
        print(f"Wrong! Addition should return a result {correct}")
        wrong += 1  # Increment incorrect counter

    # Display the current score
    score = f"\nRight: {right}. Wrong: {wrong}"
    print(score)

    # Ask if the user wants to continue
    play = input("Would you like another card? (yes|no|restart): ")

    if play.lower() in ["y", "yes"]:
        # Continue with current score
        add_flashcards(right, wrong)  # <-- Fix here
    elif play.lower() in ["r", "res", "restart"]:
        # Restart score from zero
        add_flashcards(right=0, wrong=0)
    else:
        # End game
        clear_screen()
        print(f"\nYour final score: {score}", "\nThanks for playing!")
        return


# Run the game only if this script is executed directly
if __name__ == "__main__":
    add_flashcards()

 

[kwade]

Thank you, VBService! small stuff to you, but big stuff for me. Learned about global variables, \n new line, and a better way to organize.

I will rewrite the full game (add, subtract, multiply, divide) using the recursive approach.

Much appreciated

 

[thuggy]

You can also avoid both globals and recursion by wrapping the counters in a class. Each session then has its own right/wrong state:

import random, os


def clear_screen():
    os.system("cls" if os.name == "nt" else "clear")


class FlashcardGame:
    def __init__(self):
        self.right = 0
        self.wrong = 0


    def play_round(self):
        clear_screen()
        a, b = random.randint(0, 10), random.randint(0, 10)
        correct = a + b
        try:
            ans = int(input(f"{a} + {b} = "))
        except ValueError:
            return
        if ans == correct:
            self.right += 1
            print("Correct!")
        else:
            self.wrong += 1
            print(f"Wrong, it was {correct}")
        print(f"Right: {self.right} | Wrong: {self.wrong}")


    def run(self):
        while True:
            self.play_round()
            nxt = input("again? (yes|no|restart): ").lower()
            if nxt in ("restart", "r"):
                self.right = self.wrong = 0
            elif nxt not in ("yes", "y"):
                break


FlashcardGame().run()

This way counters are just attributes on the object — no global state and no recursive calls stacking up.