The colon operator (:) is an integer operand that can be used as index information related to it. It requires two integer operands for its use, and the leftmost integer is usually a counter variable. The first example of this usage will demonstrate how to find out which element in an array contains the number 5 by using the colon operator as a piece of index information related to it.
To do so, we need three variables: one containing our original list, another holding our answer after running through each item on the said list until we come across what we are looking for since arrays start at position zero; finally, we make use of a third variable called “number” that stores either -a non-zero value or the number five, depending on whether or not it is found.
The first thing we need to do with the colon operator as a piece of index information related to it is getting a list of numbers from user input and store these in our original list variable called “list”:
list = [input(“Enter your list”)]
The next step involves iterating through every item in the said array until we find what we are looking for; this becomes ‘number’ which will either contain a -a non-zero value or the number five, depending on if that particular element contains the integer search term (in this case, “five”). For instance:
if(int(number) == int(search_term)) {
At this point, we have found the integer related to our search term of “five”. We can now print the corresponding item in a list, which will be either -a non-zero value or “five” depending on what ‘number’ contains:
print(“Your input was number five.”)
else {
print(“I’m sorry but your input is not a number.”)}}.
The next step involves iterating through every item in the said array until we find what we are looking for; this becomes ‘number’. For instance: if(int(number) == int(search_term)) {
At this point, we have found the integer that our operand relates to. We can now use the colon operator to print the corresponding item in the list, which will be either -a non-zero value or “five” depending on what ‘number’ contains:
print(“Your input was number five.”)
else {
print(“I’m sorry but your input is not a number.”)}}.
If we have found an integer that corresponds with our search term of ‘four’, then it would look like this: if(int(number) == int(search_term)){
At this point, we have found the integer related to our search term of “four”. We can now use the colon operator to print the corresponding item in the list, which will be either -a non-zero value or four depending on what ‘number’ contains:
print(“Your input was number four.”)}else {
print(“I’m sorry but your input is not a number.”)}}. Now if we would like to print out all of the items in the list, it might look something like this:
if(int(number) == int(search_term)){
for (i = 0; i <= int(_length); ++i){
The for loop will iterate through each item in ‘list’, printing them one at a time until it reaches the end of the list or our search term. We can then do whatever we want with those numbers and any other variables that may be associated with them, such as adding up their values. Remember when using the colon operator as index information, that the list is zero-indexed!
integer operands are required for colon operator when used as an index
the list is zero-indexed!
}else{
print(“Please enter a number!”)}}}
integer operands are required for colon operator when used as an index
the list is zero-indexed!}else{print(“Please enter a number!”)}}// end of article.
Title: When to Use the Colon Operator – Index Information Related
The for loop will iterate through each item in ‘list’, printing them one at a time until it reaches the end of the list or our search term. We can then do whatever we want with those numbers and any other variables that may be associated with them, such as adding up their
total.
Notice how the list is zero-indexed!}else{print(“Please enter a number!”)}}// end of article.
We can also use for in reverse, or backward so that it iterates through each item from the last to first:
var x = ‘hello’; // The variable “x” contains one character and its value is “h”.
for(i=length(); I–;){write(x);}// Outputs hello h e l l o H E L L O?}catch (e){0}{endofline}”idiot”}The loop will run until our search term has been found, but we can specify exactly which index we want to stop at by including an integer operand in the colon operator, as an index.
