Unexpected indent

Question

I'm getting IndentationError: unexpected indent even though I wrote the code exactly as shown in the book (http://learnpythonthehardway.org/book/ex25.html)

I'm sure that I'm using exactly 4 spaces to indent the lines which come after "def".

Using Python 2.7 on Windows 7

Here's the error I get in powershell:

PS C:\Users\Kiedis\python> python ex25.py
  File "ex25.py", line 3
    return sorted(words)
    ^
IndentationError: unexpected indent

and here's the first 3 lines of my code:

def sort_words(words):
    """Sorts the words"""
    return sorted(words)

I'm using Notepadd++ to compile my code, if that matters – kamokoba Feb 09 '13 at 11:18 — kamokoba, Feb 09 '13 at 11:18

score 3 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 11:50

3

You are mixing tabs and spaces anyway; run your script with:

python -tt ex25.py

to detect where the error lies.

Then configure your editor to only use spaces for indentation, and re-indent your file. See How does one configure Notepad++ to use spaces instead of tabs?

edited May 23 '17 at 11:50

Community

answered Feb 09 '13 at 11:29

Martijn Pieters

thank you Martijn. I configured Notepad++ to replace Tab by Space. I'm still getting the same error but i suppose i need to restart Notepad++ and rewrite the whole code manually? – kamokoba Feb 09 '13 at 11:39
You can have Notepad++ fix your indentation for you: [Notepad++ tabs to spaces](http://stackoverflow.com/q/455037). Did you run `python -tt` on your script? – Martijn Pieters Feb 09 '13 at 11:41
yes, I ran python -tt ex25.py and got the following: PS C:\Users\Kiedis\python> python -tt ex25.py File "ex25.py", line 7 word = words.pop(0) ^ TabError: inconsistent use of tabs and spaces in indentation – kamokoba Feb 09 '13 at 11:46
@ThomasH.: Then line 7 has mixed tabs and spaces. Run the `Leading tabs to spaces` TextFX on your file, and see if you need to adjust indentations and safe your file. Then run your code again. – Martijn Pieters Feb 09 '13 at 12:06

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 09 '13 at 11:12

1

Make sure the comment ("""Sorts the words""") is not directly bellow the def sort_words(words). This raises an error. Did this solve your problem?

answered Feb 09 '13 at 11:12

Traple

no, it's not directly below def... The first double-quote is 4 spaces from the left. And "return" is 4 spaces from the left – kamokoba Feb 09 '13 at 11:17
Did you make sure you gave arguments when calling the function? Like sort_words("Words") You already said you used spaces instead of tabs so that can't be the problem. – Traple Feb 09 '13 at 11:24

2 Answers2