🔒 Learning Indentation logic

[vagrant cosmos]

I am a beginner and I want to understand the logic of Indentation in Python.
When should I use 4 spaces and when should I return to the start of the line?
Thank you!

[distant ice]

@vagrant cosmos

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[undone wind]

you indent after you type a :

after the block ends, you unindent

so if you have an if statement,

if is_raining:
  print("it is raining")
print("it is what it is")

the indented code only runs if the condition is true. code that isn't indented is always run

[delicate matrix]

indentation tells python what part of the code belongs to what block of logic

Do you have an example of code where you're unsure what needs to be indented?

[vagrant cosmos]

​"Does this mean I can put an 'if' inside another 'if'? Like a child of a child? And should I use more spaces (like 8 spaces) for the second one?"

[delicate matrix]

yes exactly

I don't think of it as "8 spaces". I think of it as "4 more than the previous"

if name == 'bob':
    if favourite_colour == 'blue':
        print("I like you.")

[vagrant cosmos]

How can I not be confused by distances and understand them?

[wraith hedge]

You need extra indent for each level of nesting. It doesn't need to be 4 additional spaces; that is just the common convention. At least one extra space.

Everything in a particular indent block has to be indented the same amount.

Legal:

if something:
  if someotherthing:
      print(1)
  else:
    print(2)
    print(3)

This is legal - the print(2) and print(3) need to have the same indent, but it does not need to be the same as the print(1).

But most people use the same amount of indent for each additional indent, and that amount is usually 4.

[graceful olive]

Are you manually typing each space or something?

[delicate matrix]

practice, make mistakes, learn from them

[vagrant cosmos]

Thanks fashoomp for the advice

Do I need to stick to one type of spacing: tap or manual?

[graceful olive]

If you use a decent programming text editor, then pressing tab in a Python file will insert 4 spaces

You do not have to, and should not, manually type in 4 spaces one by one

[vagrant cosmos]

Use the PyCharm text editor

Thank you all for the help! This was a great first experience for me. I understand the logic now!"

close!

!close

[distant ice]

Python help channel closed with !close

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