Adding items in a list (using loops?)

[newbieAuggie2019]

broken_prices = [5, 3, 4, 5, 4] + [4]

def sum_list(broken_pieces):
    sum = 0
    for x in broken_pieces:
        sum += x
    return sum

Basically, I am trying to write code that will return the total of the numbers in the list, which would be 25.

Hi!

You have to be very careful with the words and punctuation signs in Python (I guess in all programming languages). So your list named broken_prices is NOT the same as your broken_pieces.

As others have said, you cannot use special words in python as names for variables. These special words appear in a different colour (like print, def, for, sum). You could use nevertheless sum1 instead of sum for the name of a variable (the colour will change as soon as you add the 1 to the name).

I have tried to follow your original program, making some necessary adjustments to show you clearly what is happening:

broken_prices = [5, 3, 4, 5, 4] + [4]
print(f"This is the list: {broken_prices}.")
def sum_list(list1):
    sum1 = 0
    for x in list1:
        sum1 += x
    print(f"The total sum of the elements of the list is {sum1}.")

sum_list(broken_prices)

and now it produces the following output:

Output:
This is the list: [5, 3, 4, 5, 4, 4].
The total sum of the elements of the list is 25.
>>> 

All the best,