pythonbeginner10 minutes

Fix the Bug in Calculating the Sum of List Elements

Help correct the given Python function that is supposed to calculate the sum of all elements in a list but currently returns incorrect output due to a logic error.

Challenge prompt

The function 'calculate_sum' is intended to iterate through a list of numbers and return their total sum. However, the provided code contains a bug that causes incorrect results. Identify and fix the bug so that the function returns the correct sum of all elements in the list.

Guidance

• Check how the sum is being updated inside the loop.
• Ensure the initial sum variable is correctly defined and updated.
• Test your fixed function with different numeric lists to confirm correctness.

Hints

• Look carefully at whether the function uses '+=' to add each element or just '=' which might overwrite the sum.
• Remember the sum should start at zero before adding any elements.

Starter code

def calculate_sum(numbers):
    total = 0
    for num in numbers:
        total = num
    return total

Expected output

calculate_sum([1, 2, 3, 4]) should return 10

Core concepts

loopsvariablesbasic arithmeticfunction definition

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