Python is not running my codes in else statement

Question

I am doing the first Hog project for CS61A, a UC Berkeley Intro CS course that publishes all its materials online, to self-study CS(Link:https://inst.eecs.berkeley.edu/\~cs61a/sp20/) For its first question, it asks me to implement a function that basically rolls a dice for a specific number of times and returns the sum of all the numbers, unless one of the rolls gives number 1, in which case the function will return 1.

I have two versions of codes. There are issues with the first one, but the second version passed the test:

First Version:

def roll_dice(num_rolls, dice=six_sided):
    """Simulate rolling the DICE exactly NUM_ROLLS > 0 times. Return the sum of
    the outcomes unless any of the outcomes is 1. In that case, return 1.

    num_rolls:  The number of dice rolls that will be made.
    dice:       A function that simulates a single dice roll outcome.
    """
    # These assert statements ensure that num_rolls is a positive integer.
    assert type(num_rolls) == int, 'num_rolls must be an integer.'
    assert num_rolls > 0, 'Must roll at least once.'
    # BEGIN PROBLEM 1
    "*** YOUR CODE HERE ***"
    # END PROBLEM 1
    sum, k = 0, 1
    pig_out = False
    while k <= num_rolls:
        curr = dice()
        if curr == 1:
            pig_out = True
        else: 
            sum += curr
        k += 1
    if pig_out:
        return 1
    else:
        return sum

Second Version:

def roll_dice(num_rolls, dice=six_sided):
    """Simulate rolling the DICE exactly NUM_ROLLS > 0 times. Return the sum of
    the outcomes unless any of the outcomes is 1. In that case, return 1.

    num_rolls:  The number of dice rolls that will be made.
    dice:       A function that simulates a single dice roll outcome.
    """
    # These assert statements ensure that num_rolls is a positive integer.
    assert type(num_rolls) == int, 'num_rolls must be an integer.'
    assert num_rolls > 0, 'Must roll at least once.'
    # BEGIN PROBLEM 1
    "*** YOUR CODE HERE ***"
    # END PROBLEM 1
    sum, k = 0, 1
    pig_out = False
    while k <= num_rolls:
        curr = dice()
        if curr == 1:
            pig_out = True
        sum += curr
        k += 1
    if pig_out:
        return 1
    else:
        return sum

In the first one, if I run roll_dice(1, make_test_dice(2, 3, 4)) in python intepreter, it gives me 3, while it should give me 2 (make_test_dice() is returns a dice that gives numbers in a pre-specified order. For example, make_test_dice(2, 3, 4) will give 2 if I run make_test_dice(2, 3, 4)() once, 3 if I run it 2 times, and 4 if I run it 3 times). It seems that Python will skip the first number if I run it only once, but I don't know why. I suspect it has something to do with the else statement, but I am not sure why it will cause such issues.... Any information will be hight appreciated!

I specified what I tried in the body of the question.

Answer 1

Doesn't seem possible for you to get different results. You probably had a different setup when you ran it? Unless you share the test case we can't really help much.

Your code seems unnecessarily complicated. This is simpler:

def roll_dice(num_rolls, dice=six_sided):
    """Simulate rolling the DICE exactly NUM_ROLLS > 0 times. Return the sum of
    the outcomes unless any of the outcomes is 1. In that case, return 1.

    num_rolls:  The number of dice rolls that will be made.
    dice:       A function that simulates a single dice roll outcome.
    """
    # These assert statements ensure that num_rolls is a positive integer.
    assert type(num_rolls) == int, 'num_rolls must be an integer.'
    assert num_rolls > 0, 'Must roll at least once.'
    # BEGIN PROBLEM 1
    "*** YOUR CODE HERE ***"
    # END PROBLEM 1
    sum = 0
    for _ in range(num_rolls):
        curr = dice()
        if curr == 1:
            return 1
        sum += curr
    return sum