# Atbash Cipher

Create an implementation of the atbash cipher, an ancient encryption system created in the Middle East.

The Atbash cipher is a simple substitution cipher that relies on
transposing all the letters in the alphabet such that the resulting
alphabet is backwards. The first letter is replaced with the last
letter, the second with the second-last, and so on.

An Atbash cipher for the Latin alphabet would be as follows:

```text
Plain:  abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
Cipher: zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcba
```

It is a very weak cipher because it only has one possible key, and it is
a simple monoalphabetic substitution cipher. However, this may not have
been an issue in the cipher's time.

Ciphertext is written out in groups of fixed length, the traditional group size
being 5 letters, and punctuation is excluded. This is to make it harder to guess
things based on word boundaries.

## Examples

- Encoding `test` gives `gvhg`
- Decoding `gvhg` gives `test`
- Decoding `gsvjf rxpyi ldmul cqfnk hlevi gsvoz abwlt` gives `thequickbrownfoxjumpsoverthelazydog`

## Exception messages

Sometimes it is necessary to raise an exception. When you do this, you should include a meaningful error message to
indicate what the source of the error is. This makes your code more readable and helps significantly with debugging. Not
every exercise will require you to raise an exception, but for those that do, the tests will only pass if you include
a message.

To raise a message with an exception, just write it as an argument to the exception type. For example, instead of
`raise Exception`, you should write:

```python
raise Exception("Meaningful message indicating the source of the error")
```

## Running the tests

To run the tests, run the appropriate command below ([why they are different](https://github.com/pytest-dev/pytest/issues/1629#issue-161422224)):

- Python 2.7: `py.test atbash_cipher_test.py`
- Python 3.3+: `pytest atbash_cipher_test.py`

Alternatively, you can tell Python to run the pytest module (allowing the same command to be used regardless of Python version):
`python -m pytest atbash_cipher_test.py`

### Common `pytest` options

- `-v` : enable verbose output
- `-x` : stop running tests on first failure
- `--ff` : run failures from previous test before running other test cases

For other options, see `python -m pytest -h`

## Submitting Exercises

Note that, when trying to submit an exercise, make sure the solution is in the `$EXERCISM_WORKSPACE/python/atbash-cipher` directory.

You can find your Exercism workspace by running `exercism debug` and looking for the line that starts with `Workspace`.

For more detailed information about running tests, code style and linting,
please see the [help page](http://exercism.io/languages/python).

## Source

Wikipedia [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atbash](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atbash)

## Submitting Incomplete Solutions

It's possible to submit an incomplete solution so you can see how others have completed the exercise.