syntax error trying to eval code block containing assignment

Question

I'm trying to convert English into a python code, and here is how I do it:

english.eng:

the following line is a comment: This is a demo of english programming language
set a new variable dorito as "yum"
if dorito is "yum" then do
  print in the terminal ("dorito is")

main.py:

f = open("english.eng", "r")
pe = f.read()
pe = pe.replace("the following line is a comment:", "#")
pe = pe.replace("as", "=")
pe = pe.replace("set a new variable ", "")
pe = pe.replace(" is ", " == ")
pe = pe.replace(" then do", ":")
pe = pe.replace("print in the terminal ", "print")
print(pe)
eval(pe)

But then: the following error occurs:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "main.py", line 10, in <module>
    eval(pe)
  File "<string>", line 2
    dorito = "yum"
           ^
SyntaxError: invalid syntax

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Nov 14 '20 at 16:37

1

eval doesn't work for assignment operation. Maybe, you should use exec in your case instead.

Read more about exec: https://docs.python.org/2.0/ref/exec.html

answered Nov 14 '20 at 16:37

Aniket Tiratkar

798
6
16

Feel free to downvote, but please tell me reason for downvote. – Aniket Tiratkar Nov 14 '20 at 16:39
2

I don't see why it would be downvoted; the code works correctly using `exec`: https://ideone.com/1A2aXG – Charles Duffy Nov 14 '20 at 16:42
(on the other hand, questions that are duplicative shouldn't be answered in the first place -- see the *Answer Well-Asked Questions* section of [How to Answer](https://stackoverflow.com/help/how-to-answer)) – Charles Duffy Nov 14 '20 at 16:43
@CharlesDuffy Ohh, I see. That makes sense. – Aniket Tiratkar Nov 14 '20 at 16:45

syntax error trying to eval code block containing assignment

1 Answers1