# short version
def isPalindrome(word):
    # word[::-1] means: return word the beginning to the end with step of "-1" (print the last letter first and then continue backwards)
    # word[::-1] reverses the word (easily Googleable)
    # word == word[::-1] returns True if the word is the same when reversed and False if is not the same
    return word == word[::-1]
    
# long version
def isPalindrome(word):
    # iterate over the first half of letters in the word
    for n in range(len(word)/2):
        # if the n-th letter is not the same as the n-th letter from the end (e.g. first and last letter) the word is not a palindrome →
        if word[n] != word[(n+1)*-1]:
            # → therefore return False (not a palindrome)
            return False
    # if all letters in the word matched, "return False" was not executed, therefore the word is a palindrome → return True
    return True
        
print isPalindrome("racecar")