Indentation Error in Python

Last Updated : 13 Oct, 2023

In this article, we will explore the Indentation Error in Python. In programming, we often encounter errors. Indentation Error is one of the most common errors in Python. It can make our code difficult to understand, and difficult to debug. Python is often called a beautiful language in the programming world because we are restricted to code in a formatted manner otherwise it shows an Indentation error. Here we will discuss, the cause of Indentation error and the fixation of it.

What is an Indentation error?

An error is a mistake or issue that prevents the computer program from being run perfectly, Indentation error is one of those. Indentation error occurs in the compilation phase. An Indentation error is a compile-time error that occurs when tabs or spaces in a code do not follow expected patterns. This is typically a syntax error.

Indentation Error is a very common error in Python. Because Python is an interpreted language, its interpreter reads the code line by line. In Python coding, we have to write code that is appropriately formatted with perfect use of gaps to make the code Executable. This perfect use of gaps is termed as indentation. If the user does not write code with proper indentation, it generates an indentation error.

Cause of Indentation error in Python

Indentation error occurs when the number of spaces at the beginning of a block is not equal to the number of spaces assigned at the end. This is the root cause of the Indentation error in Python.

The following are the reasons of the Indentation error in Python code:

Misplacing gaps and spaces.
Using tabs and spaces during coding.
Failing to properly indent compound statements like those used in for loops, while loops, and if statements.
Placing some indent wrong.

How to fix Python Indentation Error

To fix indentation errors in Python you have to observe and analyze the code and accurately put the ident, by which it will be able to define the correct scope of various loops.

Follow the correct sequence of code.
Use a perfect IDE(Pycharm)
Analyze the code and then put spaces as it should define the scopes of loops correctly.
Do not use spaces and tabs together stay in one.

Example: You can notice the gaps which is provided at the correct places. This gap makes code properly readable, beautiful and easy to understand. Indentation replaces the curly braces {} in writing code. this indentation describes the scope of a block. If you do not use proper indentation the compiler will return Indentation error.

Python3

def check_number(a): if a > 2: if a < 7: return "Number is between 2 and 7" return "Number is greater than 2" return "Number is out of the range of 2 and 7"  a = 5 result = check_number(a) print(result)

Output

Indentation error.

Fix Python Indentation Error

Python3

def check_number(a):     if a > 2:         if a < 7:             return "Number is between 2 and 7"         return "Number is greater than 2"     return "Number is out of the range of 2 and 7"  a = 5 result = check_number(a) print(result)