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Date: Wed, 15 Oct 2014 16:09:21 -0700
Subject: Re: Question About Running Python code
From: Dan Stromberg <drsalists@gmail.com>
To: ryguy7272 <ryanshuell@gmail.com>
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On Wed, Oct 15, 2014 at 3:50 PM, ryguy7272 <ryanshuell@gmail.com> wrote:
> I'm trying to run this script (using IDLE 3.4)

> I would be most appreciative if someone could respond to a few questions.
>
> The error that I get is this.
> 'invalid syntax'

You may get better help if you give the context of this message.

> The second single quote in this line is highlighted pink.
> print 'Downloading data from Yahoo for %s sector' % sector
>
> #1)  That's very bizarre to mix single quotes and double quotes in a sing=
le language.  Does Python actually mix single quotes and double quotes?

I'm not sure what you mean by "mix".  C uses single quotes and double
quotes, right?

Python treats single quotes and double quotes pretty much
interchangeably, except if you start a string with a single quote (for
example), you can easily put a double quote inside it, and you must
terminate the string with another single quote.  And vice versa.

> #2)  In the Python 3.4 Shell window, I turn the debugger on by clicking '=
Debugger'.  Then I run the file I just created; it's called 'stock.py'.  I =
get the error immediately, and I can't debug anything so I can't tell what'=
s going on.  This is very frustrating.  All the controls in the debugger ar=
e greyed out.  What's up with the debugger?

You have Python 2.x code there.  The differences between 2.x and 3.x
are far from insurmountable, but it does require a little code
adjustment.  If you're a python novice, you might be better off
running this under 2.x.

I believe your debugger won't help until your code compiles.

> #3)  My final question is this?  How do I get this code running?  It seem=
s like there is a problem with a single quote, which is just silly.  I can'=
t get the debugger working, so I can't tell what's going on.  The only thin=
s I know, or I think I know, is that the proper libraries seem to be instal=
led, so that's one thing that's working.

The print statement in 2.x has been made a print function in 3.x;
that's likely necessary to fix, though not necessarily sufficient.

EG in 2.x:
print 'hello word', 6

while in 3.x that would be:
print('hello world', 6)

Interestingly, you can write a single command that works in both with:
print('hello world {}'.format(6))

To 2.x, it's printing the result of a parenthesized expression.  To
3.x, it's a function call with one argument.


> I'd really appreciate it if someone could please answer my questions and =
help me get this straightened out, so I can have some fun with Python.  So =
far, I've spent 2 months reading 4 books, and trying all kinds of sample co=
de...and almost every single thing fails and I have no idea why.

You may also need to install pytz, pandas and BeautifulSoup.  I favor
pip or pip3 for such things.