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If you are new to coding or an experienced coder, you might have come across indentation error in python. It looks silly but it can pause the entire process and take good amount of time to fix it. I can help you saving some of your precious time. So, lets dive little deeper into it and understand what is indentation and how to fix it
Python is a procedural language. An indentation in Python is used to segregate a singular code into identifiable groups of functionally similar statements. The indentation error can occur when the spaces or tabs are not placed properly. There will not be an issue if the interpreter does not find any issues with the spaces or tabs. If there is an error due to indentation, it will come in between the execution and can be a show stopper.
Python follows the PEP8 whitespace ethics while arranging its code and therefore it is suggested that there should be 4 whitespaces between every iteration and any alternative that doesn’t have this will return an error.
Below are some of the common causes of an indentation error in Python:
While coding you are using both the tab as well as space. While in theory both of them serve the same purpose, if used alternatively in a code, the interpreter gets confused between which alteration to use and thus returns an error.
While programming you have placed an indentation in the wrong place. Since python follows strict guidelines when it comes to arranging the code, if you placed any indentation in the wrong place, the indentation error is mostly inevitable.
Sometimes in the midst of finishing a long program, we tend to miss out on indenting the compound statements such as for, while and if and this in most cases will lead to an indentation error.
Last but not least, if you forget to use user defined classes, then an indentation error will most likely pop up.
Errors due to indentation in Python:
Python determines when code blocks begin and stop by looking at the space at the beginning of the line. You may encounter the following Indentation errors: 1. Unexpected indent - This line of code has more spaces at the beginning than the one before it, but the one before it does not begin a sub block. In a block, all lines of code must begin with the same string of whitespace. 2. Unindent does not correspond to any of the outer indentation levels - This line of code contains less spaces at the beginning than the previous one, but it also does not match any other block. 3. An indented block was expected - This line of code begins with the same number of spaces as the previous one, yet the previous line was supposed to begin a block (e.g., if/while/for statement, function definition).
Few tips to solve an indentation error in Python:
1. While there is no quick fix to this problem, one thing that you need to keep in mind while trying to find a solution for the indentation error is the fact that you have to go through each line individually and find out which one contains the error.
In Python, all the lines of code are arranged according to blocks, so it becomes easier for you to spot an error. For example, if you have used the if statement in any line, the next line must definitely have an indentation.
Take a look at the example below.
If you need guidance on how the correct form of indentation will look like, take a look at the example below.
2. Go to your code editor settings and enable the option that seeks to display tabs and whitespaces. With this feature enabled, you will see single small dots, where each dot represents a tab/white space. If you notice a drop is missing where it shouldn’t be, then that line probably has an indentation error.
For Pycharm, please go to file - settings - editor - code style - python
3. Use the Python interpreter built-in Indent Guide. It takes you through each line and shows you exactly where your error lies, it is the surest way to find and fix all errors.
Conclusion:
Getting errors are inevitable part of programming, so is debugging. One cannot ignore indentation error while working with python but above tips show that it can be easily resolved. Hope this information makes your life little easy and programming journey more exciting.
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