Question about list and while function

[doug2019]

I am trying to code a list of 10 items whose values ​​come from the equation y=a*(b-x) and complete the rest of it with 0. e.g:

a=1
b=5
list=[]
x=0
while (x<=b):
      x=x+1
      y=a*(b-x)
      break
list.append(y)
list=[1,2,3,4,5,6,0,0,0,0,0]

[stullis]

With your current code, you only need to remove "break" and fix the indenting to make it work. Then, we can use list.extend() to add the zeroes. On a related note, do not use reserved or implemented terms such as "list" as variable names. That has unintended consequences.

a=1
b=5
list_=[]
x=0
while (x<=b):
    x=x+1
    y=a*(b-x)
    list_.append(y)
list_.extend([0] * b)

That said, we can do better. As a general practice, avoid while loops. They have a tendency to become infinite loops when there's a bug. Instead, use for loops. A for loop is guaranteed to stop because it has a limited iteration. We can also implement x without a counter, cutting two lines out of the code, by implementing a for loop.

a=1
b=5
list_=[]
for x in range(1, 5):
    y=a*(b-x)
    list_.append(y)
list_.extend([0] * b)

But we can do even better! This is a more advanced technique. We have list comprehensions at our disposal. They're more efficient and sleek.

a=1
b=5
list_=[a * b - x for x in range(1,5)]
list_.extend([0] * b)

[doug2019]

I understand but the problem is that list must always have 10 elements and "a" and "b" will be input by the user.

[adt]

the problem is that list must always have 10 elements and "a" and "b" will be input by the user

Will this meet your needs?

a = 1
b = 5
mlist= [0]*(a - 1) + [a * (b - x) for x in range(a, b+1)] + [0]*(10 - b)
print(mlist)

Output:
[4, 3, 2, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0]

---

If you need to have the calculated values in ascending order, you could try the following:

a = 1
b = 5
mlist= [0]*(a - 1) + [a * (b - x) for x in range(b, a-1, -1)] + [0]*(10 - b)
print(mlist)

Output:
[0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0]

[adt]

If values of a & b are not restricted to within 10 (while their difference is so), and padding of zero values is only to be on the right side, you could try the following:

a = 12
b = 18
mlist= [a * (b - x) for x in range(b, a-1, -1)] + [0]*(10 - (b - a + 1))
print(mlist)

Output:
[0, 12, 24, 36, 48, 60, 72, 0, 0, 0]

[jefsummers]

For the more general answer, how about

a = int(input("Enter a: "))
b = int(input("Enter b: "))

answer = [a * b - x for x in range(1,b+1)]
answer.extend([0] * (10-b))

print(answer)

Output:
Enter a: 3
Enter b: 6
[17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 0, 0, 0, 0]

That works for any positive value of b < 10

[doug2019]

Thank you so much