Attribute binary code as the path from binary tree in Python

Question

How can I attribute a binary code to a symbol, based on their path within a binary tree? In other words, a dictionary.

Example of a tree:

tree=[['a', 'p'], [[['n', 'u'], 'o'], ' ']]

or if you prefer:

tree=[
        ['a', 'p'],
        [
            [
                ['n', 'u'],
                'o'
            ],
            ' '
        ]
     ]

I've tried using a recursive method to reach a specified symbol, and record it's path as a string, either adding a 0 or 1, as it iterated through the branches, but without success and I don't know how to traverse the tree from the root.

Can anyone give me an hint of the best way to do this?

Answer 1

Going off your previous question, if you need to feed a long string of characters and you don't know when each one is cut off:

global tree #just declare the tree globally -- this is just shorthand
def findMessage(t, s):
    if (s == ""):
        return ""
    if(isinstance(t, str)):
        return t + findMessage(tree[int(s[0])], s[1:])
    return findMessage(t[int(s[0])], s[1:])

s is the string that you're trying to read, and t is the fraction of the tree that you have left to explore.