Trying to create an array. Keep getting TypeError

Question

I'm trying to get a better grasp on the data structures. I've been trying to add an array as an element of another array, but i keep getting the TypeError: Array item must be unicode character, when I try to create an array. I'm following videos/everything I read to a T from what i can tell.

from array import array

Swords = array('u',['Steel Sword', 'Bronze Sword', 'Iron Sword'])
Axes = ['Steel Axe', 'Bronze Axe', 'Iron Axe']
Maces = ['Steel Mace','Bronze Mace','Iron Mace']
Bows = ['Wood Bow', 'Bone Bow', 'Obsidian Bow']
Daggers = ['Steel Dagger', 'Bronze Dagger', 'Obsidian Dagger']

Weapons = array('u',([Swords])

for i in Weapons:

    print(i)

Any idea what is going on?

The 'u' type code corresponds to Python’s obsolete unicode character. Why exactly are you trying to use the array datatype instead of a normal list? — Mr. Kelsey
– Mr. Kelsey, Commented Nov 21, 2018 at 1:13
@jk622 I was just trying to get comfortable working with arrays. Is there any difference between an array, and a list in python, or should I just use a list when I need an array? — Adag89
– Adag89, Commented Nov 21, 2018 at 1:48
In general, you should be using a list. Unless you are trying to use a particular function available to the array class, all you'd be doing is adding a constraint to the datatype of the objects inside it. — Mr. Kelsey
– Mr. Kelsey, Commented Nov 21, 2018 at 1:56
Ok, I did some additional reading, and makes sense when to use which. Why the type error for trying to place a list inside of an array though? This is what every tutorial I have watched has shown. — Adag89
– Adag89, Commented Nov 21, 2018 at 1:59

Mr. Kelsey · Accepted Answer · 2018-11-21 03:15:19Z

The 'u' type code corresponds to Python’s obsolete unicode character. This means it will work with unicode characters. You can test this

test_one = array("u", ["\u2641","\u2642","\u2643"])
for i in test_one:
    print(i)

You can also see it with this

test_two = array("u", ["T","e","s","t"])
for i in test_two:
    print(i)

Notice, in both cases it is a single character. Not entire strings. In order to do the string, you would have to convert each string to a list of characters.

test_three = array("u", [ch for ch in "Test"])
for i in test_three:
    print(i)

Lastly, if you want to break down the individual characters from a list of strings you can do a list comprehension similar to test_three or you can use a generator.

def character_generator(word_list):
    for word in word_list:
        for ch in word:
            yield ch

test_four = array("u", character_generator(["Test","One","Two"]))
for i in test_four:
    print(i)

At the end of the day though, the u typecode is for individual characters. Not strings.

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