python - Sum of Integers - 'int' object is not iterable

Question

My question is related to the sum function in python.

So my code is

def black_jack(a, b):
    if sum(a, b) > 21:
        return 0
    else:
        return sum(a, b)


print black_jack(10, 5)

I get an error reading:

'int' object is not iterable

Can someone explain why this happens and how to fix it?

Answer 1

Look at the documentation:

sum(iterable[, start])

Sums start and the items of an iterable from left to right and returns the total. start defaults to 0. The iterable‘s items are normally numbers, and the start value is not allowed to be a string.

So you have to pass an iterable as argument, not an int!

sum((a, b)) should work correctly.

This is a function which is intended to be used when you have many values stored in a list (for example), if you want to sum two values, you should simply use a + b.