Using Python variables in lists

Question

Question 3: Largest product in a series

The four adjacent digits in the 1000-digit number that have the greatest product are 9 × 9 × 8 × 9 = 5832.

73167176531330624919225119674426574742355349194934 96983520312774506326239578318016984801869478851843 85861560789112949495459501737958331952853208805511 12540698747158523863050715693290963295227443043557 66896648950445244523161731856403098711121722383113 62229893423380308135336276614282806444486645238749 30358907296290491560440772390713810515859307960866 70172427121883998797908792274921901699720888093776 65727333001053367881220235421809751254540594752243 52584907711670556013604839586446706324415722155397 53697817977846174064955149290862569321978468622482 83972241375657056057490261407972968652414535100474 82166370484403199890008895243450658541227588666881 16427171479924442928230863465674813919123162824586 17866458359124566529476545682848912883142607690042 24219022671055626321111109370544217506941658960408 07198403850962455444362981230987879927244284909188 84580156166097919133875499200524063689912560717606 05886116467109405077541002256983155200055935729725 71636269561882670428252483600823257530420752963450

Find the N adjacent digits in the 1000-digit number that have the greatest product. What is the value of this product?

Range of N: 10 <= N <= 50

Dear all, I am dealing with the above mentioned problem. I hope i can request your assistance in helping me with my issue. Here's the code:

number = 7316717653133062491922511967442657474235534919493496983520312774506326239578318016984801869478851843858615607891129494954595017379583319528532088055111254069874715852386305071569329096329522744304355766896648950445244523161731856403098711121722383113622298934233803081353362766142828064444866452387493035890729629049156044077239071381051585930796086670172427121883998797908792274921901699720888093776657273330010533678812202354218097512545405947522435258490771167055601360483958644670632441572215539753697817977846174064955149290862569321978468622482839722413756570560574902614079729686524145351004748216637048440319989000889524345065854122758866688116427171479924442928230863465674813919123162824586178664583591245665294765456828489128831426076900422421902267105562632111110937054421750694165896040807198403850962455444362981230987879927244284909188845801561660979191338754992005240636899125607176060588611646710940507754100225698315520005593572972571636269561882670428252483600823257530420752963450

def largestproduct(adjdigit):
    x=0
    y=adjdigit+1
    a=0
    while True:
        z=number[x:y]
        for i in z:
            product*=i
        x+=1
        y+=1
        if product>a:
            a=product
    return a
adjdigit=19
print(largestproduct(adjdigit))

The issue i have is with this line 'z=number[x:y]'. It comes up with this error "TypeError: 'int' object is not subscriptable". How does one go about solving this issue, or to phrase it more correctly, how do I use variables in my lists?

Answer 1

You can't slice a number.

Try this instead:

>>> def numslice(n,start,end):
...     return int(str(n)[start:end])
...
>>> numslice(123456789, 2, 4)
34