On Tue, Dec 15, 2015 at 11:19:33AM +0000, Matthew Lintern wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I'm new to python and I've been following some youtube videos etc to learn
> python. I'm using the spyder IDE. Im having problems with the following
> piece of code:
>
> def myfun(x):
> y=x**2
> return y
>
> print myfun(5)
>
> the answer I should get is obviously 25, and this is the case in the video
> (https://www.youtube.com/v/GT1UfkLIeZ4?version=3&vq=hd1080&autoplay=1)
>
> However, Spyder tells me theres a syntax error with myfun(5). However, the
> videos shows no issue....?
I'm not familiar with Spyder, but I expect it should actually show
you where the error is, or at least, where it *notices* the error
for the first time.
For instance, you might see something like this:
py> print func(5}
File "<stdin>", line 1
print func(5}
^
SyntaxError: invalid syntax
Look carefully, and you will see I mis-typed the closing bracket ) as }
instead.
Or you might get something like this:
py> print func(5)
File "<stdin>", line 1
print func(5)
^
IndentationError: unexpected indent
Spyder might treat that as a syntax error.
If you get this:
py> print func(5)
File "<stdin>", line 1
print func(5)
^
SyntaxError: invalid syntax
Notice the caret ^ pointing just after the first word following "print"?
In that case, try running these twolines of code instead:
import sys
print(sys.version)
If the version starts with 3, then you have discovered a minor nuisance
when programming in Python: a slight difference between Python version 3
and older versions.
In Python 3, "print" is a normal function, and so it must be called with
parentheses:
print(func(5))
In Python 2, "print" is a special statement, which doesn't require
parentheses, so you can write this:
print func(5)
Many tutorials are written for Python 2, and so they will show print
with a space, but that's a syntax error in Python 3. Just remember to
always use an extra pair of brackets for printing, and you should be
fine.
--
Steve
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