TypeError: argument of type 'NoneType' is not iterable

Question

I am making a Hangman game in Python. In the game, one python file has a function that selects a random string from an array and stores it in a variable. That variable is th

Answer 1

If a function does not return anything, e.g.:

def test():
    pass

it has an implicit return value of None.

Thus, as your pick* methods do not return anything, e.g.:

def pickEasy():
    word = random.choice(easyWords)
    word = str(word)
    for i in range(1, len(word) + 1):
        wordCount.append("_")

the lines that call them, e.g.:

word = pickEasy()

set word to None, so wordInput in getInput is None. This means that:

if guess in wordInput:

is the equivalent of:

if guess in None:

and None is an instance of NoneType which does not provide iterator/iteration functionality, so you get that type error.

The fix is to add the return type:

def pickEasy():
    word = random.choice(easyWords)
    word = str(word)
    for i in range(1, len(word) + 1):
        wordCount.append("_")
    return word