Python Idle not giving my prompt after If line

[Peter Otten]

brgrt2 at gmail.com wrote:

> I typed the If part of an If/Else statement, but did not get a prompt at
> the beginning of the next line when I hit return. Instead, the cursor
> lined up under the "p" of "print." Here is the line of text (it's part of
> a longer bit of coding, I copied out of a textbook).
> 
>>>> if right_this_minute in odds:
>        print("This minute seems a little odd.")    [Return]
> 
> You can't see it, but the cursor is blinking under the "p."
> 
> Why is this happening and what's the fix?
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Tamara

It works as designed; the interpreter has no way of knowing whether you are 
about to write another line belonging to the if suite, like in

if foo:
   print("clearing foo")
   foo = False

That's why you have to hit <return> twice to trigger execution of the code.

By the way, when you copy (or write) a "longer bit" I recomend that you put 
the code into a py file so that you don't have to retype it when you want to 
make a small modification. Instead you can just hit F5 and see the effect of 
your changes.