python while loop unexpected behavior

Question

I'm relatively new to Python, and I don't understand the following code produces the subsequently unexpected output:

x = input("6 divided by 2 is")
while x != 3:
    print("Incorrect. Please try again.")
    x = input("6 divided by 2 is")
    print(x)

the output of which is:

6 divided by 2 is 3
Incorrect. Please try again.
6 divided by 2 is 3
3
Incorrect. Please try again.
6 divided by 2 is 

Why is the while loop still being executed even though x is equal to 3?

Answer 1

input() returns a string, which you are comparing to an integer. This will always return false. You'll have to wrap input() in a call to int() for a valid comparison.

x = int(input("6 divided by 2 is"))
while x != 3:
    print("Incorrect. Please try again.")
    x = int(input("6 divided by 2 is"))
    print(x)

Read more on int() here.