Day 51 of 100 Days Coding Challenge: Python
You know you’ve reached a new level of coding attachment when you start treating your genre list like a prized bonsai tree—snipping here, trimming there, fussing over every little branch of logic. After revamping the program so it could accept new genres and pretty colors via a palette (very fancy, I know), I realized there was no graceful way to unmake a genre. What if I added “Historicl Fiction” by mistake? What if I picked a color so hideous that even my pie chart looked like it wanted to gag?
Today was all about giving myself the power to fix those flubs. Rename it, delete it, clean up my genre garden—snip snip! Because frankly, if I don’t like the color, the genre might just have to go.
Today’s Motivation / Challenge
Every great coder hits that moment where they scream at the screen, “Why can I add but not delete?!” It’s like buying furniture without knowing how to return it. I wanted my program to feel flexible, like a well-organized closet—not a hoarder’s storage unit of genre typos and duplicate categories. And let’s be honest, sometimes “Fantasy” and “Science Fiction” are just playing dress-up in each other’s clothes. Merge, rename, delete, repeat.
Purpose of the Code (Object)
This update lets users do a little genre housekeeping. You can now clean up your list by renaming genres (in case of typos or re-categorizing) or deleting them completely. It helps keep your visualizations tidy and your data organized—without diving into the JSON file manually. Think of it like giving your genre system a tiny admin panel without the drama.
AI Prompt:
“Add a feature to let users rename or delete genres from the saved genre-color dictionary and persist it using JSON.”
Functions & Features
- Add a new genre and assign it a color using a color picker
- Save all genres and colors to a JSON file automatically
- Rename existing genres in case of typos or reclassification
- Delete genres that are no longer wanted
- Keep your pie charts and reports squeaky clean
Requirements / Setup
pip install matplotlib pandas
(Also includes built-in modules like json and os, so no sweat there.)
Minimal Code Sample
def rename_or_delete_genre(genre_color_dict):
print(“\nCurrent Genres:”)
for genre in genre_color_dict:
print(f”- {genre}”)
choice = input(“\nRename or Delete? (r/d): “).strip().lower()
if choice == ‘r’:
old = input(“Old genre name: “)
new = input(“New genre name: “)
if old in genre_color_dict:
genre_color_dict[new] = genre_color_dict.pop(old)
print(f”Renamed ‘{old}’ to ‘{new}’.”)
else:
print(“Genre not found.”)
elif choice == ‘d’:
target = input(“Genre to delete: “)
if target in genre_color_dict:
del genre_color_dict[target]
print(f”Deleted ‘{target}’.”)
else:
print(“Genre not found.”)
save_genre_colors(genre_color_dict)
This snippet shows how to let users clean up the genre-color dictionary and save the changes.
Notes / Lessons Learned
This might sound like a small tweak, but it was a surgical upgrade. I tested, tweaked, and made backup copies like I was preparing to launch a space probe, not a genre menu. And wow—what a difference it made. Now if I want to merge “Thriller” into “Mystery,” I don’t need to panic about breaking anything.
It also got me thinking about naming in general. Genres are a bit like moods—they shift. So it helps to keep things tidy and editable. Pro tip? Rename before deleting, just in case you regret it five seconds later.
Also, I’m now officially annoyed that my function menu jumps from 7 to 11. Time to refactor. Naming may be hard, but numbering is… even harder?
Optional Ideas for Expansion
- Add a feature to merge two genres into one, including updating past entries
- Include a log file that records changes to genres for version control
- Let users reorder the genre list manually so the menu stays tidy and satisfying