How to detect semantic errors with numbers more complex than integers?

How to detect semantic errors with numbers more complex than integers? - Printable Version

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How to detect semantic errors with numbers more complex than integers? - RedSkeleton007 - Aug-01-2018

I've wrote a program that calculates a the average MPH speed of a race whose distance is measured in kilometers by default. My program runs, but I can't figure out how to verify I'm not getting any semantic errors in the result that prints out:

#!/usr/bin/env python3
#ThinkPythonExercise1_4.py

##Example Scenario:
##If you run a 10 kilometer race in 43 minutes 29 seconds, what is your average time per mile? What
##is your average speed in miles per hour? (Hint: there are 1.61 kilometers in a mile).
##Then it would be distance / ((43 * 60 + 29)/(60 * 60)) hours.

def getDistance():
    Km = int(input("How many kilometers is the race? "))
    miles = Km * 0.62 #would be Km * 1.61 if converting Kilometers to miles
    print("In that case, the distance in miles is " + str(miles) + " miles.")
    return miles,Km

def getTime():
    print("Enter minutes and seconds it took to finish the race:")
    minutes = int(input("Minutes: "))
    seconds = int(input("Seconds: "))
    return minutes,seconds

def main():
    Km,miles = getDistance()
    minutes,seconds = getTime()
    averageSpeed = miles / ((((minutes * 60) + seconds))/3600)
    print("Your average MPH time was " + str(averageSpeed) + " MPH.")

main()

#distance = speed * time
#time = distance / speed
#speed = distance / time

Any ideas?

RE: How to detect semantic errors with numbers more complex than integers? - Larz60+ - Aug-01-2018

while writing the code, you can embed semantics check into the code, and control with a variable.
Example:

debug = True

def getDistance():
    Km = float(input("How many kilometers is the race? "))
    miles = Km * 0.62 #would be Km * 1.61 if converting Kilometers to miles
    if debug:
        print(f'semantic check: km = miles: {miles} / 0.62 = {miles / 0.62}\n') 
    print("In that case, the distance in miles is " + str(miles) + " miles.")
    return miles,Km

miles, Km = getDistance()

result is debug == 1

Output:How many kilometers is the race? 15.4
semantic check: km = miles: 9.548 / 0.62 = 15.4

In that case, the distance in miles is 9.548 miles.
>>> 
KeyboardInterrupt
>>>

note: f-string for python 3.6 and newer, on older versions use:

        print('semantic check: km = miles: {} / 0.62 = {}\n'.format(miles, miles / 0.62))