A command-line flashcard quiz tool that reads from a CSV file, lets you filter by topic, and tracks how many times you've missed each question across sessions.
- Filter questions by category or quiz on all topics at once
- User-chosen amount of questions per session, shuffled randomly
- 555 questions included in flashcards.csv
- Multiple choice answers (a/b/c/d) with input validation
- Tracks missed answers persistently — the CSV is updated after every session
- Displays your score as a percentage at the end
- Python 3.10+
- No external dependencies
The tool reads from a file called flashcards.csv in the same directory as the script. The CSV must have the following columns:
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
question |
The question text |
a |
Answer choice A |
b |
Answer choice B |
c |
Answer choice C |
d |
Answer choice D |
answer |
The correct answer (a, b, c, or d) |
category |
Topic category for filtering |
times_missed |
Number of times this question has been answered incorrectly (start at 0) |
question,a,b,c,d,answer,category,times_missed
What does 'hello'[1] return?,e,h,l,o,a,strings,0,,
What is the output of bool(None)?,True,0,Error,False,d,data_types,0,,
What is the output of 'Python'[1:4]?,Pyt,yth,ytho,Pyth,b,strings,0,,
What exception is raised when a dictionary key doesn't exist?,IndexError,KeyError,ValueError,AttributeError,b,error_handling,0,,
What does 'abc' * 3 produce?,An error,abcabcabc,abc3,['abc',abc,'abc'],b,strings,0
cd Python-Flashcards
python main.pyYou'll be asked how many questions you want to review. Then you'll be shown a list of available categories and prompted to choose one, or you can enter all or missed. The quiz then runs through random questions based your selections. After the session, the CSV is updated with any incremented miss counts.
- Category names are case-sensitive at the prompt
- The
times_missedcolumn is updated in place after each session, so you can track which cards are giving you trouble over time - Questions rotate each session — already-seen questions move to the end of the pool
-Input validation and edge-case handling
Right now some inputs can crash the program or create empty quiz sessions.
I want to tighten up topic selection, question count input, and no-results cases so the app behaves more reliably.
-Retry missed questions
A useful next step is letting the user review the questions they got wrong at the end of a session.
That would make the tool more practical for studying and build on the times_missed logic already in place.
-Session history / stats tracking
I’d like to log each quiz session to a separate CSV or JSON file with the date, topic, score, and number of questions.
That would make it possible to view recent performance and track improvement over time.
-Hardest cards report
Since times_missed is already being tracked, I want to use it to show which cards are missed most often.
A simple report of the most-missed questions would make the app feel more data-driven and useful.
-Spaced repetition algorithm
Right now times_missed is tracked but not really used for anything.
The natural next step is to weight card selection by that field so cards missed more often appear more frequently.
-Add / edit / delete flashcards
At the moment, the program can quiz from a CSV, but managing cards still has to be done manually.
Adding command-line options for creating, editing, and deleting flashcards would make it feel more like a complete tool.
-argparse for proper CLI interface
The current input()-based flow works, but it’s fragile and not how real command-line tools usually behave.
Replacing parts of it with argparse would allow commands like python flashcards.py --topic Python --questions 15 and make the script easier to test and extend.
