The Python SyntaxError
occurs when the interpreter encounters invalid syntax in code. When Python code is executed, the interpreter parses it to convert it into bytecode. If the interpreter finds any invalid syntax during the parsing stage, a SyntaxError
is thrown.
What Causes Invalid SyntaxError
Some of the most common causes of syntax errors in Python are:
- Misspelled reserved keywords
- Missing quotes
- Missing required spaces
- Missing operators
- Invalid usage of blocks (e.g. if-else, loops)
- Invalid variable declarations
- Invalid function definitions or calls
Python Invalid SyntaxError Example
Here’s an example of a Python SyntaxError
thrown due to missing quotes:
print(Hello World)
In the above example, since the string “Hello World” is attempted to be printed without using quotes, a SyntaxError
is thrown:
File "test.py", line 1
print(Hello World)
^
SyntaxError: invalid syntax
How to Fix Invalid SyntaxError in Python
To avoid syntax errors, IDEs that understand Python syntax can be used as they highlight the lines containing the problem. These issues can then be fixed before code is executed.
If a SyntaxError
occurs after execution, the traceback can be inspected to detect where the issue exists in code
The traceback from the earlier example can be inspected to fix the issue:
File "test.py", line 1
print(Hello World)
^
SyntaxError: invalid syntax
Here, it can be seen that the issue exists in line 1. When this line is inspected, it should be clear that the error occurred because of missing quotes in the string. When these missing quotes are added, the syntax issue is fixed:
print("Hello World")
The above code runs successfully and produces the correct output as expected:
Hello World
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