list - Python data structure for dice roll emulator -

so made dice rolling simulator in python, , while want told implement lists or dictionary , "better" code. have tried adding both code , lost. if of help/show me awesome. here's code, much.

from random import randint print "" die_amount = raw_input(">how many dice roll?: " ) die_amount = int(die_amount) print "" print "\t %s die being rolled:" % die_amount  def dieroll(die_amount):     1 = 0     2 = 0     3 = 0     4 = 0     5 = 0     6 = 0     in range(1, die_amount+1):         roll = randint(1,6)         print "\t rolled: %s" % roll          if roll == 1:                 1 +=1         elif roll == 2:                 2 +=1         elif roll ==3:                 3 +=1         elif roll == 4:                 4 +=1         elif roll == 5:                 five+=1         elif roll == 6:                 6 +=1      print """           one's rolled: %s         two's rolled: %s         three's rolled: %s         four's rolled: %s         five's rolled: %s         six's rolled: %s         """ % (one, two, three, four, five, 6 )     return [one, two, three, four, five, six]  dieroll(die_amount) 

a counter data structure trying do.

from collections import counter c = counter()  in range(die_amount):     roll = randint(1,6)     c[roll] += 1 

or, easier:

c = counter(randint(1,6) in range(die_amount)) 

c[1] contains number of times 1 rolled etc.

to print out roll counts, can use

for number, count in c.iteritems():     print "{}'s rolled: {}".format(number, count) 

---

a counter python dictionary default value of zero. makes particularly suitable counting how many objects occur in list, instance.

there several reasons why approach works better keeping separate variable each count.

• if wanted have hundred-sided dice, have define 100 separate variables. that's more error prone.

• it's, in principle, faster. having 6 different variables necessitates looping through them series of if-statements. imagine roll six. have evaluate 5 different if-statements until if roll == 6. contrast, counter uses hash table, c[roll] takes same amount of time, regardless of how many rolls make.

this begs question: how can know when should using collection opposed set of variables? rule of thumb if set of objects different instances of same thing, , intend use each object in same manner, belong in collection. in case, roll of 1 or roll of 4 identical far program flow concerned. treat them identically. should therefore kept in collection.