small code cleanup

crowdsourcehinter/crowdsourcehinter.py

@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ from xblock.fragment import Fragment
 
 log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
+
 class CrowdsourceHinter(XBlock):
     """
     This is the Crowdsource Hinter XBlock. This Xblock seeks to provide students with hints
@@ -80,7 +81,7 @@ class CrowdsourceHinter(XBlock):
         """
         initial = ast.literal_eval(str(data['initial_hints']))
         generic = ast.literal_eval(str(data['generic_hints']))
-        if(type(generic) is list and type(initial) is dict):
+        if type(generic) is list and type(initial) is dict:
             self.initial_hints = initial
             self.generic_hints = generic
             self.Element = str(data['element'])
@@ -135,9 +136,10 @@ class CrowdsourceHinter(XBlock):
                 self.hint_database[answers] = {}
             if self.initial_hints[answers] not in self.hint_database[answers]:
                 self.hint_database[answers].update({self.initial_hints[answers]: 0})
-            #self.hint_database = copy.copy(self.initial_hints)
         answer = str(data["submittedanswer"])
-        answer = answer.lower() # for analyzing the student input string I make it lower case.
+        # put the student's answer to lower case so that differences in capitalization don't make
+        # different groups of hints. this is sloppy and the execution should probably be changed.
+        answer = answer.lower()
         found_equal_sign = 0
         remaining_hints = int(0)
         best_hint = ""
@@ -156,8 +158,8 @@ class CrowdsourceHinter(XBlock):
         if remaining_hints != str(0):
             for hint in self.hint_database[str(answer)]:
                 if hint not in self.reported_hints.keys():
-                    #if best_hint hasn't been set yet or the rating of hints is greater than the rating of best_hint
-                    if (best_hint == "" or self.hint_database[str(answer)][hint] > self.hint_database[str(answer)][str(best_hint)]):
+                    # if best_hint hasn't been set yet or the rating of hints is greater than the rating of best_hint
+                    if best_hint == "" or self.hint_database[str(answer)][hint] > self.hint_database[str(answer)][str(best_hint)]:
                         best_hint = hint
             self.used.append(best_hint)
             return {'BestHint': best_hint, "StudentAnswer": answer}
@@ -180,7 +182,7 @@ class CrowdsourceHinter(XBlock):
         Returns 0 if no hints to show exist
         """
         isreported = []
-        self.incorrect_answers.append(str(answer)) # add the student's input to the temporary list
+        self.incorrect_answers.append(str(answer))
         if str(answer) not in self.hint_database:
             # add incorrect answer to hint_database if no precedent exists
             self.hint_database[str(answer)] = {}
@@ -230,8 +232,8 @@ class CrowdsourceHinter(XBlock):
                     self.incorrect_answers = []
                     self.used = []
                     return used_hint_answer_text
-        self.incorrect_answers=[]
-        self.used=[]
+        self.incorrect_answers = []
+        self.used = []
         return used_hint_answer_text
 
     @XBlock.json_handler
@@ -267,7 +269,7 @@ class CrowdsourceHinter(XBlock):
             # add hint to Reported dictionary
             self.reported_hints[str(data_hint)] = answer_data
             return {"rating": 'reported', 'hint': data_hint}
-        rating = self.change_rating(data_hint, data_rating, answer_data) # change hint rating
+        rating = self.change_rating(data_hint, data_rating, answer_data)
         return {"rating": str(rating), 'hint': data_hint}
 
     def change_rating(self, data_hint, data_rating, answer_data):
@@ -333,7 +335,7 @@ class CrowdsourceHinter(XBlock):
                         </crowdsourcehinter>
                      </verticaldemo>
                 """
-            ),
+            )
         ]
 
     @classmethod