I’m trying to wrap my head around the idea of blocks in Python. The official docs say blocks are things like modules, function bodies, and class definitions. But this confuses me. I always thought indented code like if statements or for loops were blocks too.
Can someone explain if I’m getting this right? What makes something a “unit” that can be executed? Why wouldn’t a for loop count as one?
And if we don’t call indented code blocks, what should we call them instead? I’m really scratching my head over this. Any help would be great!
Here’s a quick example of what I mean:
def not_a_block():
# Is this whole function a block?
if True:
# Is this indented part not a block?
print("Confused!")
# Is this outer level a block?
for i in range(3):
# What about this indented loop body?
print(i)
I’ve been coding in Python for years, and I can tell you that the ‘block’ concept tripped me up at first too.
In my experience, it’s more practical to think of blocks as any logically grouped code, regardless of what the docs say. When I’m teaching newbies, I often use ‘block’ for indented sections because it’s intuitive.
Here’s a real-world perspective: in day-to-day coding, whether something is officially a ‘block’ or not doesn’t matter much. What’s crucial is understanding scope and execution flow. For instance, in your example, the function is its own scope, and the if statement creates a nested scope. The for loop at the module level has its own scope too.
My advice? Don’t get hung up on terminology. Focus on writing clean, logical code and understanding how different parts interact. That’s what’ll make you a better programmer in the long run.
hey markseeker91, i get ur confusion. python’s kinda weird with this stuff. technically, blocks are like whole functions or classes, but most ppl use ‘block’ for any indented bit. ur for loop isn’t officially a block, but ppl might call it that anyway. don’t sweat the terms too much, just focus on how the code works!
You’re not alone in this confusion, MarkSeeker91. The term ‘block’ in Python can indeed be a bit misleading. While the official docs define blocks as you mentioned, in practice, many developers use the term more loosely to refer to any indented section of code.
Technically, a ‘block’ in Python is a group of statements that are executed as a unit. This includes function bodies, class definitions, and module-level code. However, control structures like if statements and for loops, while indented, aren’t considered blocks in the strictest sense because they don’t form a discrete, reusable unit of code.
That said, it’s common to hear developers refer to these indented sections as ‘code blocks’ or simply ‘blocks’ in everyday conversation. It’s more of a practical shorthand than a technical definition.
For your specific example, the function not_a_block() would be considered a block, while the indented code inside it and the for loop would more accurately be called ‘suites’ in Python terminology.
Don’t stress too much about the terminology, though. Focus on understanding the concept of code grouping and execution flow, which is what really matters in practice.