Unclear instruction: Learn String Manipulation by Building a Cypher Step 3

[samGreer]

Describe the Issue

The second paragraph of the instructions (shown below) uses parentheses twice.

Given that this is a lesson about the syntax for how to call a function, I think the use of parentheses is confusing

Affected Page

https://www.freecodecamp.org/learn/scientific-computing-with-python/learn-string-manipulation-by-building-a-cipher/step-3

Your code

N/A (not a coding issue)

Expected behavior

N/A (not a coding issue)

Screenshots

No response

System

• Device: [MacBook Air]
• OS: [macOS]
• Browser: [Firefox]
• Version: [123.0]

Additional context

No response

[zairahira]

Hi @samGreer I do not see the word "parentheses" used twice, I hope I understood the issue correctly.
Also, what would you suggest the updated instruction to be?

[Dario-DC]

If I understood correctly you mean the parentheses in print(), right? @samGreer

[Rabberpoli]

The only parentheses I can see on second paragraph are the following:

• ... call (run)
• ... call (invoke)

If I understood correctly, right? @samGreer

If so, these are just used syntactically, so they should be ignored

[samGreer]

Hi @zairahira, thanks for the questions. By "parentheses", I mean the symbols "(" and ")", not the word. Apologies for the confusion.

My proposed solution would be rewriting the second paragraph as follows:

Functions are reusable code blocks that you can call/run/invoke when you need them. To call a function, you just need to write a pair of parentheses next to its name. You will learn more about functions very soon.

My issue with the previous was that the use of parentheses in the paragraph previously indicated to me examples of syntax, while not actually being examples of syntax. I think this rewriting clears up that confusion, and means that parentheses are used in this step during examples of function calls, which I think reads clearer

[Dario-DC]

Okay, I had missed the first sentence of your post @samGreer .

I would go with:

Functions are reusable code blocks that you can call, or invoke, to run their code when you need them. To call a function, you just need to write a pair of parentheses next to its name. You will learn more about functions very soon.

[zairahira]

Okay, I had missed the first sentence of your post @samGreer .

I would go with:

Functions are reusable code blocks that you can call, or invoke, to run their code when you need them. To call a function, you just need to write a pair of parentheses next to its name. You will learn more about functions very soon.

Thanks for the clearification @samGreer 👍️
I'd suggest we go with this modified instruction.