Question

word = 'boo' prior = "" for letter in word: if prior == letter: out = "" continue if letter == prior: out = letter break else: prior = letter out = word[0] print([prior, out])

I know the answer, i wnt to know why prior has the previous letter i do not see why it gains the prior variable without any mention before

Python code

Answer 1

Let's understand what happens at each step

1)when letter='b' prior='' so prior!=letter the if statements will not be executed else condition is executed and prior is set equal to 'b' and out is set to 'b'

2) when letter ='o' prior='b'so again prior!=letter so else condition is called prior is set to 'o' and out is set to'b'

3)when letter ='o' and prior ='o' prior==letter is true so program enters in first if statement is called second if is also true but in first if as continue is used program cannot reach to second if so in first statement out is set to="" and prior remains unchanged

In this way prior remains equal to 'o'

I think i have cleared your doubt