[Python] Is there a better way to map a user input to a list of possible replies than this...

I have this function I came up with as a python noob that takes an "inputMap", a 2-dimensonal array as follows:

exampleInputMap = [
['1', 'a', -1], # do the first action
['2', 'b'], # do the second action
['3', 'h'], # print help
['4', 'q'] # quit the program
]

def mapInputToAction(inputMap, matchFirstCharOnly=True, prompt='> '):
while True:
response = input(prompt)
if len(response) == 0:
for index, row in enumerate(inputMap):
if -1 in row:
return index
else:
for index, row in enumerate(inputMap):
if matchFirstCharOnly:
if response[0] in row:
return index
else:
if response in row:
return index


This is used in a while loop, fed into a match/case statement. It gets an input from the user each time, and then returns an integer that tells the match/case what action to do each time. Is this a good way to accomplish this, or is there a better way to do this (perhaps with dictionaries)? I'm trying to build good coding habits by practicing, but I don't want practice bad techniques.

Continue reading...