[Python] Kaprekar numbers in Python

I aas solving a problem on HackerRank and the problem is as follows:

A modified Kaprekar number is a positive whole number n with d digits, such that when we split its square into two pieces - a right hand piece r with d digits and a left hand piece l that contains the remaining d or d−1 digits, the sum of the pieces is equal to the original number (i.e. l + r = n).

Alternatively, a modified Kaprekar number is a positive whole number n with 2d digits (if its number of digits is even) or 2d + 1 digits (if its number of digits is odd), such that when we split its square into two pieces, a right hand piece r containing d or d + 1 digits, and a left piece l containing the remaining d digits, the sum of the two pieces is equal to the original number.

We need to find Kaprekar numbers within a given range. So I wrote the following piece of code:

def checkIsKaprekar( num ):
string_num = str(num**2)
if num == int(string_num[:len(string_num)//2]) + int(string_num[len(string_num)//2:]):
return True

kaprekars = [ str(i) for i in range(int(input()),int(input())) if checkIsKaprekar(i) == True ]
print (' '.join(kaprekars))


The problem with the above solution is when we pass single digit numbers, they are converted into a string of which the right half is the number itself and the left half is ''. Now I am converting these strings to int(), which throws an exception.

To avoid this situation, I changed my code to this:

def checkIsKaprekar( num ):
string_num = str(num**2)
left_string = string_num[:len(string_num)//2]
right_string = string_num[len(string_num)//2:]
left_num = int(left_string) if left_string != '' else 0
right_num = int(right_string) if right_string != '' else 0
if num == left_num + right_num:
return True

kaprekars = [ str(i) for i in range(int(input()),int(input())) if checkIsKaprekar(i) == True ]
print (' '.join(kaprekars))


But I don't like this code even though it does solve the purpose. How can I tweak my original code to produce the right output?

Link to the question: https://www.hackerrank.com/challenges/kaprekar-numbers

Is there any way I can specify a default value of 0 if the string is ''?

Continue reading...