Question

SIGNS = '03,21-04,19=ARI;04,20-05,20=TAU;05,21-06,21=GEM;06,22-07,22=CAN;' + \
        '07,23-08,22=LEO;08,23-09,22=VIR;09,23-10,23=LIB;10,24-11,20=SCO;' + \
        '11,21-12,21=SAG;12,22-01,20=CAP;01,21-02,21=AQU;02,22-03,20=PIS;'

def find_astrological_sign(month, date):
    '''
    (int, int) -> str
    
    Given two int values representing a month and a date, return a
    3-character string that gives us what star sign a person born in that
    month and on that date belongs to. Use the SIGNS string (already
    defined for you at the top of this file) to figure this out.

    NOTE: A lot of string slicing to do here. The
                   information for each sign is exactly 16 characters long.
                   

    >>> find_astrological_sign(8, 24)
    'VIR'

    >>> find_astrological_sign(1, 15)
    'CAP'
    '''

Looking for a way to complete this function by accessing the string SIGNS

Answer 1

The below program works for all valid dates mentioned in your variable SIGNS. Just run the below python code and input your date according to the prompt. I have included comments everywhere in the program to explain how the algorithm works. The example runs are included at the end.

Python Code:

import time

SIGNS = '03,21-04,19=ARI;04,20-05,20=TAU;05,21-06,21=GEM;06,22-07,22=CAN;07,23-08,22=LEO;08,23-09,22=VIR;09,23-10,23=LIB;10,24-11,20=SCO;11,21-12,21=SAG;12,22-01,20=CAP;01,21-02,21=AQU;02,22-03,20=PIS;'


daysMonths = [31, 29, 31, 30, 31, 30, 31, 31, 30, 31, 30, 31] #storing all the days in each month
signs = [''] * SIGNS.count(';') #as each entry in SIGNS is delimited by a ; character
stars = [[]] * SIGNS.count(';')




#making a separate 'signs' list and 'stars' list with all the entries in SIGNS variable and all the months containing all days respectively
i, j = 0, -1
while i < len(stars):
   stars[i] = [''] * daysMonths[i]
  
   signs[i] = SIGNS[j + 1 : SIGNS.index(';', j + 1)]
   j = SIGNS.index(';', j + 1)
  
   i = i + 1
#done




#populating all the days of the month with their repective starsigns
i = 0
while i < len(signs):
   m1, d1 = int(signs[i][0 : 2]), int(signs[i][3 : 5])
   m2, d2 = int(signs[i][6 : 8]), int(signs[i][9 : 11])
   s = signs[i][12 : ]

   y = d1 - 1
   while y < daysMonths[m1 - 1]:
       stars[m1 - 1][y] = s
       y = y + 1

   y = 0
   while y < d2:
       stars[m2 - 1][y] = s
       y = y + 1

   i = i + 1
#done




#you can input any month and date and check for the starsign
def find_astrological_sign(month, date):
   return stars[month - 1][date - 1]

m, d = [int(x) for x in input(" Enter the date and the month in a single line : ").split()]
print(find_astrological_sign(m, d))

Example Run: