How to count the number of words in a sentence, ignoring numbers, punctuation and whitespace?

Question

How would I go about counting the words in a sentence? I\'m using Python.

For example, I might have the string:

string = \"I     am having  a   very         


        

Answer 1

    def wordCount(mystring):  
        tempcount = 0  
        count = 1  

        try:  
            for character in mystring:  
                if character == " ":  
                    tempcount +=1  
                    if tempcount ==1:  
                        count +=1  

                    else:  
                        tempcount +=1
                 else:
                     tempcount=0

             return count  

         except Exception:  
             error = "Not a string"  
             return error  

    mystring = "I   am having   a    very nice 23!@$      day."           

    print(wordCount(mystring))  

output is 8