Python: Float Object is not Iterable

Question

I wrote the code below to complete the assignment:

fname = raw_input("Enter file name: ")
fh = open(fname)
total = 0
count = 0 
for line in fh:
    if not line.startswith("X-DSPAM-Confidence:") : continue
    pos = line.find(':')
    num = float(line[pos+1:])
for number in num:
    total = total +num
    count += 1
print 'Average spam confidence:', total/count

The system keep coming out error message reading that

float object is not iterable

I know that I made a mistake from for number in num: And the correct answer is:

fname = raw_input("Enter file name: ")
fh = open(fname)
total = 0
count = 0 
for line in fh:
    if not line.startswith("X-DSPAM-Confidence:") : continue
    pos = line.find(':')
    num = float(line[pos+1:])
    total = total +num
    count += 1
print 'Average spam confidence:', total/count

but my question is : in the correct answer, is float object also iterable? Thanks for the help!!

How should an iteration over 3.14 work?

Cristian Ciupitu
– Cristian Ciupitu

2016-10-24 03:08:10 +00:00
Commented Oct 24, 2016 at 3:08 — Cristian Ciupitu
– Cristian Ciupitu, Commented Oct 24, 2016 at 3:08

Green Lithium · Accepted Answer · 2016-10-24 02:42:34Z

1

As the Python glossary notes, an object is an iterable if it is "capable of returning its members one at a time." num is a float, which is just just one number, and it cannot return it's elements one at a time like a list, a set, or a dictionary. Thus, it makes no sense to write for number in num: - for this to work, num should be a iterable, so that it can return it's members one at a time as number. Instead, you should just add the num to the total directly by calling total = total + num (or even better, total += num)

answered Oct 24, 2016 at 2:42

Green Lithium

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1 Comment

Rob Gwynn-Jones Over a year ago

Note that you could do for number in range(num) which works for integer arguments

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