I'm having technical issues... even following along during the lesson, writing the code out exactly as it is on the handouts, I always come to a point where my indentations don't line up, and cause me syntax errors(usually at the print stage). what do I need to do to fix this?

Question

I'm having technical issues... even following along during the lesson, writing the code out exactly as it is on the handouts, I always come to a point where my indentations don't line up, and cause me syntax errors(usually at the print stage).  what do I need to do to fix this?

e.mccormick · Answer

What version of Python are you using?  2.x or 3.x?  Any of the 2 line should work well with the handouts.  The 3.x line will have problems, especially with print statements.  That is why I bring it up.

anonymous · Answer

I'm using 2.5.4 I downloaded from the course intro. With single lines of code I have no print issues... hang on I'll post an example, maybe you can see what I'm doing wrong.

e.mccormick · Answer

If you put ``` above and below a code block it will retain formatting.

```
for (int i = 0; i < 5; i++)
{
  print "bla"
}
```

That is just a psudocode example.  But you can see how the ``` (accent on ~ key) helps.

anonymous · Answer

def cube(number):
	"""Takes a number and returned the cube of that number.
	Input: number (float or int)
	Output: number (float)"""
	return number**3


At this point I hit enter to go to the next line and print, and the indentation remains in line with "return" as if im going to continue scripting.  So I realign it with "def" and I get a syntax error when I type "print cube(3)" no quotations, of course.

e.mccormick · Answer

OK.  In idle you can change indentation with ... lets see...

ctrl [
ctrl ]

The ctrl [ will de-indent.

e.mccormick · Answer

```
def cube(number): 
    """Takes a number and returned the cube of that number.
    Input: number (float or int)
    Output: number (float)"""
    return number**3

print cube(3)
```

anonymous · Answer

>>> def cube(number):
	"""Takes a number and returns the cube of that number.
	Input: number(float or int)
	Output: number(float)"""
print cube(9)
SyntaxError: invalid syntax

So when I tried the ctrl trick, it went as you can see past the >>>.  trying to realign in front of ">>>" also always results in a syntax error.  still not sure what I'm doing wrong :(

e.mccormick · Answer

Also, if there are spaces and tabs, the indent can look the same but be different!

Ah, the shell acts a bit differently than the editor.  You may need to be very careful about how you enter it in the shell.

anonymous · Answer

got it, I realized my dumb mistake haha, thanks!

e.mccormick · Answer

Kk.  Was it the fact that you did not hit enter one more time so that it actually defined it?

anonymous · Answer

no, I've been doing all my work in the shell haha.  simple lines were no problem, but more involved stuff had me pulling my hair out, but then when I would paste it back into the shell, it worked fine.