i have modified the code now its this. please see it and check if i have anything the wrong way. like if i should have used some method but used some other. i am new to programming so i have no idea what mistakes i make/ <blockquote style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;" class="gmail_quote">shoplist = []#the list i use print shoplist c=True while c:#the list making loop a= raw_input('enter items ') if a == 'quit': c=False else: shoplist.append(a) print shoplist else : print 'shoplist done' print 'are you done with your shoppiing list\n', print 'there are',len(shoplist)#\n'items in your shoplist', print 'to remove one enter remove.\n to add more enter add\n to stop enter stop\n to show items enter show\n to count items enter count', def remove(): shoplist.remove(raw_input('remove what: ')), def add(): shoplist.append(raw_input('add what : ')), #def stop(): # break c = True def show(): print shoplist def count(): print len(shoplist) while c: b = raw_input('enter command : ') if b =='add': add() if b =='remove': remove() #how do i add a way to prevent error when item is not in list. #i mean show an error message of my own. if b =='stop': c = False if b =='show': show() if b =='count': count() f = len(shoplist) while len(shoplist) > 0 : if len(shoplist) > 0: #for f > 0: print 'have you bought any items yet \n you may wish to remove them, from the list', #print 'what did you buy', shoplist.remove(raw_input('what did you buy: ')) else : print 'all items bought', #how do i print this list as a text file. </blockquote>