{"id":22120,"date":"2020-09-04T09:44:18","date_gmt":"2020-09-04T16:44:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/careerkarma.com\/blog\/?p=22120"},"modified":"2023-12-01T03:59:22","modified_gmt":"2023-12-01T11:59:22","slug":"python-taberror-inconsistent-use-of-tabs-and-spaces-in-indentation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/careerkarma.com\/blog\/python-taberror-inconsistent-use-of-tabs-and-spaces-in-indentation\/","title":{"rendered":"Python TabError: inconsistent use of tabs and spaces in indentation Solution"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

You can indent code using either spaces or tabs in a Python program. If you try to use a combination of both in the same block of code, you\u2019ll encounter the \u201cTabError: inconsistent use of tabs and spaces in indentation\u201d error.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this guide, we discuss what this error means and why it is raised. We\u2019ll walk through an example of this error so you can figure out how to solve it in your code.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

TabError: inconsistent use of tabs and spaces in indentation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While the Python style guide<\/a> does say spaces are the preferred method of indentation when coding in Python, you can use either spaces or tabs.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indentation is important in Python because the language doesn\u2019t depend on syntax like curly brackets to denote where a block of code starts and finishes. Indents tell Python what lines of code are part of what code blocks.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consider the following program:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

numbers = [8, 7, 9, 8, 7]\n\ndef calculate_average_age():\naverage = sum(numbers) \/ len(numbers)\nprint(average)<\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Without indentation, it is impossible to know what lines of code should be part of the calculate_average_age function and what lines of code are part of the main program.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You must stick with using either spaces or tabs. Do not mix tabs and spaces. Doing so will confuse the Python interpreter and cause the \u201cTabError: inconsistent use of tabs and spaces in indentation\u201d error.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An Example Scenario<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
We want to build a program that calculates the total value of the purchases made at a donut store. To start, let\u2019s define a list of purchases<\/a>:
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
purchases = [2.50, 4.90, 5.60, 2.40]<\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Next, we\u2019re going to define a function<\/a> that calculates the total of the \u201cpurchases\u201d list:
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
def calculate_total_purchases(purchases):\n\ttotal = sum(purchases)\n    return total<\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Our function accepts one parameter<\/a>: the list of purchases which total value we want to calculate. The function returns the total value of the list we specify as a parameter.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We use the sum() method<\/a> to calculate the total of the numbers in the \u201cpurchases\u201d list.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you copy this code snippet into your text editor, you may notice the \u201creturn total\u201d line of code is indented using spaces whereas the \u201ctotal = sum(purchases)\u201d line of code uses tabs for indentation. This is an important distinction.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Next, call our function and print the value it returns to the console:
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
total_purchases = calculate_total_purchases(purchases)\nprint(total_purchases)<\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Our code calls the calculate_total_purchases()<\/code> function to calculate the total value of all the purchases made at the donut store. We then print that value to the console. Let\u2019s run our code and see what happens:
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
  File "test1.py", line 5\n\treturn total\n           \t^\nTabError: inconsistent use of tabs and spaces in indentation<\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Our code returns an error.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Solution<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
We\u2019ve used spaces and tabs to indent our code. In a Python program, you should stick to using either one of these two methods of indentation.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To fix our code, we\u2019re going to change our function so that we only use spaces:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
def calculate_total_purchases(purchases):\n    total = sum(purchases)\n    return total<\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Our code uses 4 spaces for indentation. Let\u2019s run our program with our new indentation:
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
15.4<\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Our program successfully calculates the total value of the donut purchases.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the IDLE editor, you can remove the indentation for a block of code by following these instructions:
<\/p>\n\n\n\n