CODEWITHSUNDEEP
pythonarrays
user2245942
user2245942

Reputation: 79

Store Array Locations in Variable

I'm building a simple game, using Python, with a 2D array as a board. I user can enter numbers to play, but those numbers do not correlate very well to a place on the board.

Can I store a location of an array in a variable so that I do not have to write out board[x][y] every time I check a conditional?

So instead of:

if num == 1:
    if board[3][5] == "Z":
        print "Not empty!"
    else 
        board[3][5] = "Z"

I can use:

if num == 1:
    if locationOf1 == "Z":
        print "Not Empty!"
    else
        locationOf1 == "Z"

All I want locationOf1 to do is refer me to where board[3][5] is. How can this be done?

[edited] Or even better (is this possible?):

locations = *[location of board[5][1],location of board[5][3]]*

if locations[num] == "Z":
        print "Not empty!"
    else
        locations[num]  == "Z"

Upvotes: 2

Views: 252

Answers (4)

gonz
gonz

Reputation: 5276

If I understood correctly you want to map board coords to a single value, I guess that have some meaning for the game since x,y coords sound simple enough.

I'd statically map those coords to model the board with a dict, and another dict to the current board state:

from collections import defaultdict

board = {
    1: (1, 2),
    3: (3, 4)
}

board_state = defaultdict(str)

Then just use locations[x] to get or set the state ("Z").

UPDATE:

def set_value(val, pos):
    assert pos in board
    board_state[pos] = val

def get_value(pos):
    assert pos in board
    return board_state[pos]

Just to illustrate a use case, you can of course just use the board_state. The assert here is optional and depends on your code, you can validate that elsewhere (user input, etc...)

Upvotes: 0

Samy Arous
Samy Arous

Reputation: 6814

The easiest way to store informations based on keys is the dict. You could save the values as a tuple:

locations = {1: (3, 5), 2: (4,3)}

def get_location(num):
    x, y = locations.get(num, (-1, -1, ))
    if coords != (-1,-1): 
       return board[x,y]
    else:
       return None

Upvotes: 1

dr. gogo
dr. gogo

Reputation: 1

Well, since you already have an array at your disposal, you can not do a faster look-up as you already have a constant look-up time. I would use a map with key as std::string and values as int* (c++) to map strings of the form "locationof1" to an integer pointer pointing to the actual address in the memory.

Upvotes: 0

drunkenRabbit
drunkenRabbit

Reputation: 394

One simple approach would be to create a wrapper class for your 2D array. The encapsulation would give meaning to your game board and easier to work with.

eg.

Class BoardWrapper {
   private int[][] board;

   public BoardWrapper(int w, int l) {
      board = new int[w][l];
   }

   public locationOf1() {
      if (board[3][5] == "Z") {
         ...
      }
   }
}

Upvotes: 0

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