Text message “reverser”

Question

I decided to step out of my comfort zone (Java) and try out Python. I wrote a very simple reverser.py and want it to be reviewed.

"""
This python script basically takes a string and reverses it.

This python script can be used as a command line script as well as a separate
module.
"""
import sys


def reverse(message):
    """
    This function takes a string and reverses it, so as to somewhat obfuscate
     it.

    :param message: The unencrypted text message to be reversed.
    """
    text = ''
    for character in message:
        text = character + text
    return text


if __name__ == '__main__':
    numberOfArgs = len(sys.argv)

    message = ''
    if numberOfArgs == 1:  # i.e. the program name only
        message = input('Please enter the text to be encrypted : ')
    elif numberOfArgs == 2:
        message = sys.argv[1]
    else:
        print('Incorrect number of arguments : %d\n' % numberOfArgs)
        print('Usage: python3 reverseCipher [unencrypted string]')
        exit(2)  # '2' stands for command-line syntax errors in unix

    print(reverse(message))

Examples in the terminal:

$ python3 reverser.py

Please enter the text to be encrypted : I understand that text manipulation in python is quite easy.
.ysae etiuq si nohtyp ni noitalupinam txet taht dnatsrednu I


$ python3 reverser.py "I am just starting out with python"

nohtyp htiw tuo gnitrats tsuj ma I

It would be great if I would be advised about:

1. Code style and idioms
2. The required mindset (for I have one for Java)
3. Anything that can help me learn the language

Answer 1

This is going to be a short answer, but did you know Python has such a feature in-built?

text = "I'm a stringy!"
print(text[::-1])

Above would replace your reverse method and is the most Pythonic way to solve this.

This is called extended slicing and has been added since Python 2.3. Slicing is a very easy to use method when handling array-like data.

The following illustrates how slicing and extended slicing can be used, executed in the interactive Python IDE:

In [1]: text = "I'm a stringy!"

In [2]: print(text)
I'm a stringy!

In [3]: print(text[:-1])
I'm a stringy

In [4]: print(text[::-1])
!ygnirts a m'I

In [5]: print(text[:4:-1])

In [6]: print((text:4:-1] + text[:3:5])[::-1])
I stringy!

In [7]: print(text[::-1][::-1][::-1])
!ygnirts a m'I

As picture.

Answer 2

I guess you might have heard of PEP8, which is the style guideline for Python. Contrary to a lot of other programming languages, this style guideline is actually used a lot, and is the main standard for coding in Python.

Your code looks clean, and I like that you've commented using docstrings moth the module/file and the function. Mast does have a point that you can accomplish the same using message[::-1], but part of going into a new language is learning what the language can offer in standard libraries.

Do look into using slice'ing, which is extremely powerful and useful. A challenge for you is to resolve Project Euler #13: Large sum using Python and sliceing. I think you'll get some pleasant surprises related to string vs number handling, and handling of large numbers as well.

Two other comments related to style issues:

• Use snake_case for variable and function naming – That is use number_of_arguments instead of numberOfArgs
• Look into using format for string formatting – The % is scheduled for depreceation, and you should rather use print('Incorrect number of arguments: {}'.format(number_of_arguments)). For more on this see Format specification mini language, on that page there is also useful examples and syntax for how to pretty print using format.