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Python

Posted by Y B
Y B
14,136 Points

Tabs vs spaces

I had thought from the PEP style guide that the suggested practice was to use spaces (x4) after colons rather than tabs. But in the 1st OOP video Kenneth mentions using tabs.

Can someone confirm what the best practice should be, or does it not matter?

Thanks,

5 Answers

Nejc Vukovic
.a{fill-rule:evenodd;}techdegree seal-36
Nejc Vukovic
Full Stack JavaScript Techdegree Graduate 51,574 Points

Hi well in my opinion you should use the spaces : the thing is that building code blocks you need 4 spaces.

If you look at any other language you do:

if ( x !==y )
{code block
   some code
}codeblock

something else

The curly braces are the body of the block.

But in Python:

if ( x !==y )
code block
----some code
codeblock

something else

You can use the tab but be sure to set the tab to 4 spaces or else your code block will be void.

Thats the only thing it think.

Y B
Y B
14,136 Points
Y B
Y B
14,136 Points

thanks how do you set tab to 4 spaces?

Nejc Vukovic
seal-mask
.a{fill-rule:evenodd;}techdegree seal-36
Nejc Vukovic
Full Stack JavaScript Techdegree Graduate 51,574 Points
Nejc Vukovic
.a{fill-rule:evenodd;}techdegree seal-36
Nejc Vukovic
Full Stack JavaScript Techdegree Graduate 51,574 Points

Well it depends on which text editor you use. On notepad++ you can set in -> Preferences -> Tab Settings -> and then you can set for different types : for python is set to 4 (but you can also enable Replace by space).

So it depends.

Just check the documentation of your text editor.

Y B
Y B
14,136 Points
Y B
Y B
14,136 Points

Thanks

Kenneth Love
STAFF
Kenneth Love
Treehouse Guest Teacher
Kenneth Love
Kenneth Love
Treehouse Guest Teacher

Python doesn't care so long as it's consistent throughout the file. PEP 8 does suggest using spaces but most editors will gladly insert spaces when you press the tab key. That's likely why I said "tab". But, again, it doesn't actually matter.