Invalid Syntax?

Question

Hi! I tried the codes shown below, got an error somehow, does anyone know why?

>>> i=1
>>> while i<=5:
... print(i)
... i=i+1
... print("Finished!")
File "<stdin>", line 4
print("Finished!")
^
SyntaxError: invalid syntax

Answer 1

Because in the interactive shell the last print should be entered on a new block (>>>):

>>> i=1
>>> while i<=5:
... print(i)
... i=i+1
...
>>> print("Finished!")

Answer 2

This works:

i=1
while i<=5:
print(i)
i=i+1
print("Finished!")

Answer 3

I am getting the same error. However, the interactive shell doesn't allow to create a new block and just continues in the loop.
PLEASE HELP

>>> i=1
>>> while i<=6:
print(i)
i= i+1
print("Finished")
SyntaxError: invalid syntax

If I press enter before writing print("Finished") code I get this:

>>> i=1
>>> while i<=6:
print(i)
i=i+1

1
2
3
4
5
6
>>>

I am not able to create a new block in python and IDLE both.
I hope I am able to convey my doubt.

Answer 4

That's the principle of interactive shell: you execute immediatly the command entered until it require a block... (only one statement at once).

So, the only way to "embed" your print statement as a kind of workaround is to use nested statement/blocks, such as:

>>> i=1
>>> for x in range(1):
... while i<=6:
... print(i)
... i = i+1
... print("Finished")
...

1
2
3
4
5
6
Finished

Answer 5

Thank you. It worked!

Answer 6

Notice tgat the first statement (assignation of 1 to variable i) is executed immediatly after pressing enter key (before typing the rest), but you see nothing as assignation don't return any value ^^

A cleaner way to execute "many blocks" (many statements) at once would be to define a function embeding the code you want to execute at once (1st statement, without visible return value, as assignation), and then call it (2nd statement):

>>> def f():
... i = 1
... while i<=6:
... print(i)
... i = i+1
... print("Finished")
...
>>> f()

1
2
3
4
5
6
Finished