Hacking Secret Ciphers with Python

Chapter 20 – Frequency Analysis 299

FREQUENCY ANALYSIS

Topics Covered In This Chapter:
 Letter Frequency and ETAOIN
 The sort() Method’s key and reverse Keyword Arguments
 Passing Functions as Values Instead of Calling Functions
 Converting Dictionaries to Lists with the keys(), values(), items() Dictionary
Methods

The ineffable talent for finding patterns in chaos

cannot do its thing unless he immerses himself in

the chaos first. If they do contain patterns, he does

not see them just now, in any rational way. But

there may be some subrational part of his mind

that can go to work, now that the letters have

passed before his eyes and through his pencil, and

that may suddenly present him with a gift-wrapped

clue--or even a full solution--a few weeks from

now while he is shaving or antenna-twiddling.

“Cryptonomicon” by Neal Stephenson