Magic 8-ball = Syntax Error: invalid Syntax

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#1

Dismiss this post please

Hey, I’m having issues with this project, the error I get points ^ at the letter f in the elif statement but I have no idea what’s causing the issue.

import random
name = 'Me'
question = 'Can dogs fly?'
answer = ''
random_number = random.randint(1, 9)
print(random_number) #CommentOut
if random_number == 1:
  print('Yes - definitely.')
  elif random_number == 2:
    print('It is decidedly so.')
    elif random_number == 3:
      print('Without a doubt.')
      elif random_number == 4:
        print('Reply hazy, try again')
      elif random_number == 5:
        print('Ask again later.')
        elif random_number == 6:
          print('Better not tell you now.')
          elif random_number == 7:
            print('My sources say no.')
            elif random_number == 8:
              print('Outlook not so good.')
              elif random_number == 9:
                print('Very doubtful.')
                else:
                  answer = "Error"

This is what it outputs:

File "magic8.py", line 9
    elif random_number == 2:
       ^
SyntaxError: invalid syntax

I would really appreciate some help, thanks!

#2

Remember that indentation is very important in Python, as it uses it to tell were codeblocks are.
In an if/elif/else, all the ifs, elifs, and elses need to have the same indentation for the interpreter to associate them with each other.

1 Like
#3

I retyped the entire code with proper indentations as I was copy/pasting before, here it is:

import random
name = 'Me'
question = 'Can dogs fly?'
answer = ''
random_number = random.randint(1, 9)
print(random_number) #CommentOut

if random_number == 1:
  print('Yes - definitely.')
  elif random_number == 2:
    print('It is decidedly so.')
    elif random_number == 3:
      print('Without a doubt.')
      elif random_number == 4:
        print('Reply hazy, try.')
        elif random_number == 5:
          print('Ask again later.')
          elif random_number == 6:
            print('Better not tell you now.')
            elif random_number == 7:
              print('My sources say no.')
              elif random_number == 8:
                print('Outlook not so good.')
                else:
                  answer = 'Error'

I still get the exact same error:

  File "magic8.py", line 10
    elif random_number == 2:
       ^
SyntaxError: invalid syntax
#4

The elifs shouldn’t be indented. This makes it seem that they should somehow be run if random_number == 1.

1 Like
#5

The following should work:

import random
name = "Me"
question = "Can dogs fly?"
answer = " " #what is the use of this variable?
random_number =  random.randint(1, 9)
if random_number == 1:
    print("Yes - definitely")
elif random_number == 2:
    print("It is decidedly so.")
elif random_number == 3:
    print("Without a doubt.")
elif random_number == 4:
    print("Reply hazy, try.") #shouldn't it be "Reply hazy, try again."?
elif random_number == 5:
    print("Ask again later")
elif random_number == 6:
    print("Better not tell you now.")
elif random_number == 7:
    print("My sourcer say no.")
elif random_number == 8:
    print("Outlook not so good.")
else:
    print("Error") #answer = "error" won't work because answer isn't printed after it being given the value
1 Like
#6

This did end up working for indentations. Another place I failed was using print() statements instead of “answer =” like they wanted me to. In general, I should be using down arrow to move to the next line, not enter, right? as enter does the indentation and kept it going. Thank you!

#7

You’re welcome! The down arrow key moves the cursor to the next line but, if there is no next line made yet it won’t work. I suggest enter and any number of backspace keys.