How to "print", in the terminal, a table that is defined inside a class?

September 27, 2022

I am learning Python and I would like to know how to "print", in a terminal, a table that is defined inside a class. This is the relevant code (and my attempt):

import re
import pandas as pd
import sys, os
import numpy as np
import nltk
import operator
import math

class Extractor():
    def __init__(self,softskills,hardskills,jobdesc,cvdesc):
        self.softskills=self.load_skills(softskills)
        self.hardskills=self.load_skills(hardskills)
        self.jb_distribution=self.build_ngram_distribution(jobdesc)
        self.cv_distribution=self.build_ngram_distribution(cvdesc)

    def makeTable(self):        
        #I am interested in verbs, nouns, adverbs, and adjectives
        parts_of_speech=['CD','JJ','JJR','JJS','MD','NN','NNS','NNP','NNPS','RB','RBR','RBS','VB','VBD','VBG','VBN','VBP','VBZ']
        graylist=["you", "will"]
        tmp_table=[]
        #look if the skills are mentioned in the job description and then in your cv
        
        for skill in self.hardskills:
            if skill in self.jb_distribution:
                count_jb=self.jb_distribution[skill]
                if skill in self.cv_distribution:
                    count_cv=self.cv_distribution[skill]
                else:
                    count_cv=0
                m1=self.measure1(count_jb,count_cv)
                m2=self.measure2(count_jb,count_cv)
                tmp_table.append(['hard',skill,count_jb,count_cv,m1,m2])

        for skill in self.softskills:
            if skill in self.jb_distribution:
                count_jb=self.jb_distribution[skill]
                if skill in self.cv_distribution:
                    count_cv=self.cv_distribution[skill]
                else:
                    count_cv=0
                m1=self.measure1(count_jb,count_cv)
                m2=self.measure2(count_jb,count_cv)
                tmp_table.append(['soft',skill,count_jb,count_cv,m1,m2])        
        print(tmp_table) # this command prints my table in the terminal


p = Extractor('softskills.txt','hardskills.txt','job.txt','cv.txt')
tbl = p.makeTable()
print(tbl) # this command does not show my table in the terminal

If I use the command print(tmp_table) inside def makeTable(self): (as shown in the above-mentioned code) I get the correct table displayed in the terminal, i.e.

[['hard', 'programming', 2, 2, 0, 0], ['hard', 'modelling', 18, 20, -2, 0], ['hard', 'linux', 1, 0, 1, 1], ['hard', 'analytical', 1, 0, 1, 1], ['hard', 'teamwork', 1, 0, 1, 1], etc...

…but if I try to print my table outside the class…

p = Extractor('softskills.txt','hardskills.txt','job.txt','cv.txt')
tbl = p.makeTable()
print(tbl)

…I get the following result:

None

Any idea ?

>Solution :

Your method does not return anything, therefore python will fall back to the default that tbl is None, i.e. a method, that has no explicit return statement, returns None, which is also your print out.
If you want the outer print(tbl) to print anything, you have to add a return tmp_table at the end of your method.

Simply printing it to the terminal is not a return in the sense of how programming works.