CODEWITHSUNDEEP
pythonstringpython-2.7randombrute-force
Craig Walker
Craig Walker

Reputation: 131

New string every time a loop runs

Looking to prove a sibling wrong about how long it can take a computer to guess a specific string by using Brute Force even with the correct number of characters put in. I can get the code to run but I cannot figure out how to get it to print a new string every time it runs. I'm sure I'm over looking something simple. Below are a couple examples of the code I've tried. 

import string
import random

random=''.join([random.choice(string.ascii_letters+string.digits) for n in xrange(5)])

while True:
   if random != "Steve":
      print(random)
   if random == "Steve":
      print("Found")

This will continually print the same string over and over. I've also tried this without the while statement just the if and it doesn't seem to work.

I know enough that once random picks those 5 randoms characters it won't change until something makes it change but like I said I'm not sure how to do that. I've tried moving random to different places but doesn't work I just get different error messages.

Can someone help me out.

Upvotes: 1

Views: 666

Answers (2)

Primusa
Primusa

Reputation: 13498

random=''.join([random.choice(string.ascii_letters+string.digits) for n in xrange(5)])

This doesn't create a new random string each time. At this point random is just a randomly generated string that doesn't change while your while loop runs. Referencing random doesn't create a new string, but rather just gets the first string your generated, since random is just a string in your memory not a function.

Move the random string creation into a function:

import string
from random import choice

def make_random():
    return ''.join([choice(string.ascii_letters+string.digits) for n in xrange(5)])

Then run the loop:

while True:
    random = make_random()

    if random != "Steve":
        print(random)
    if random == "Steve":
        print("Found")

EDIT:

Switched import random to from random import choice because random (the variable) was overwriting random (the library) and throwing an attribute error when you try to call random.choice.

Upvotes: 4

Woody1193
Woody1193

Reputation: 7980

You have two problems here. As @Primusa pointed out, your random generation should be moved inside your loop otherwise it'll only run once. However, your other problem is that you're importing random and you're also setting a variable to random. This is where your NameError is coming from. You've defined random to be a string, which works on the first iteration of your loop. However, on the second iteration, random won't have a function called choice declared for it because it's a string at that point. Rename your random variable or import the random package under an alias, like this:

import random as rnd

Upvotes: 2

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