Question

I am working on the "while" function in Lecture 2. When I type "print y" (without the quotes), I get a syntax error. Does anyone know why?

Answer 1

Hoot! You just asked your first question! Hang tight while I find people to answer it for you. You can thank people who give you good answers by clicking the 'Good Answer' button on the right!

Answer 2

can you please put the rest of the while loop and I'll try to answer

Answer 3

>>> y=0
>>> x=3
>>> itersLeft = x
>>> while(itersLeft>0):
y=y+x
itersLeft=itersLeft-1
print y
SyntaxError: invalid syntax

Answer 4

I think because you haven't indented it correctly. the line y = y + x should be tabbed in also the next one

Answer 5

Hmm. on my screen in Python, those two lines are indented, but after copying them into the chat box, they are no longer indented...

Answer 6

I'm not sure, when I run it, it comes up with 9

Answer 7

That's strange. I guess I'll just keep trying. Thanks for your help Joz!

Answer 8

are you sure they are not in line with while? I'm just saying, because the print y is further left on the chat box

Answer 9

in my python interface, "y=y+x" and "itersLeft = itersLeft - 1" are both indented to the right of the "while" statement. "print y" is to the left of the while statement

Answer 10

yeah, that sounds right to me. When it comes up with the error, is there a pink thing on the script part?

Answer 11

This is basically my first time programming, so I'm not exactly sure what you mean by script. "print" is highlighted in pink, and below that it says "SyntaxError: invalid syntax"

Answer 12

hmmm... try lining it all on the left hand side, except the 2 lines under while. Failing that, I don't know.

Answer 13

ok i'll give that a shot. my last question for you - how do i line everything up on the left side? every type i start a line, it starts with ">>>"

Answer 14

wait... are you doing it straight into the shell?

Answer 15

try to find the IDLE page. give me a minute and I'll tell you the path to find it...

Answer 16

well, i feel like an idiot. As I was watching the video lecture, I noticed my screen looked different, but I ignored it. You're right, the top of my screen says "Python Shell"

Answer 17

is it a white screen, yeah?
(Don't worry, I did the same)

Answer 18

just go to file, new window. If you don't have an option bar on the top, let me know

Answer 19

ahh - that gave me a blank screen. i typed in the code, saved, and clicked "run module" and that gave me the right output for y (9).
Thank you so much for walking me through this

Answer 20

Haha no worries, you are set up now...

Answer 21

also make sure when you save, you save as name.py

Answer 22

ok got it. thanks again...