Python syntaxerror: EOL while scanning string literal Solution

Indeed, even the best engineers make grammar mistakes constantly when they’re coding. Programming dialects have endless guidelines and even one mistake can cause a blunder.

On the off chance that you’ve experienced the blunder “syntaxerror: EOL while scanning string strict”, don’t stress. In this guide, we will discuss what this mistake means and how to unravel it. We’ll stroll through a couple of model situations to assist you with recognizing expected causes and arrangements.

The Problem: syntaxerror: EOL while scanning string literal

Syntax is like the grammar of a programming language. English has rules that govern punctuation and spelling; programming languages have similar rules.

Let’s take a look at our error:

syntaxerror: EOL while scanning string literal

The SyntaxError message tells us that we’ve not followed the syntax rules of Python.

The portrayal of the blunder demonstrates that Python is anticipating that a particular character should show up before the finish of a line of code that was not found. For example, Python might be expecting a string close (“) character before the finish of a line in which you have opened a string.

On the off chance that a punctuation mistake is experienced, Python quits executing a program. This is on the grounds that the Python mediator needs you to redress the issue before it can peruse the remainder of your code.

This error is commonly caused by:

• Strings that span multiple lines using the wrong syntax
• Missing quotation marks
• Mismatching quotation marks

Example Scenario: Multi-line Strings

In Python, strings can span multiple lines. The syntax for a multi-line string is different to that of a traditional string. Multi-line strings must be triple quoted, or written using three quotation marks.

Let’s take a look at a multi-line string:

def welcome_hero():

    message = "Welcome, Hero!

You have just entered the Castle of Doom. Your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to locate the Sacred Emerald and take it back to the travelling salesman."

    print(message)

​

welcome_hero()

We have defined a function called welcome_hero(). This function prints a message to the console. This message is assigned to the variable “message”.

Let’s try to run our code:

File "main.py", line 2

    message = "Welcome, Hero!

SyntaxError: EOL while scanning string literal

An error is returned. This is because a string using single or double quotes cannot span multiple lines. To solve this problem, we need to enclose our string with three single or double quotes. Any text that appears between these characters will be part of the string:

message = """Welcome, Hero!

You have just entered the Castle of Doom. Your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to locate the Sacred Emerald and take it back to the travelling salesman."""

Let’s try to run our code with this revised line. Our code returns:

Welcome, Hero!

You have just entered the Castle of Doom. Your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to locate the Sacred Emerald and take it back to the travelling salesman.

Success! Our code prints the message without an error.

Example Scenario: Missing Quotation Mark

Strings must be closed after the contents of a string have been declared. Otherwise, Python returns a syntax error. Let’s take a look at a string that is not closed:

def welcome_hero():

    message = "Welcome, Hero!

    print(message)

welcome_hero()

Let’s run our code:

File "main.py", line 2

    message = "Welcome, Hero!

                            ^

SyntaxError: EOL while scanning string literal

We have forgotten to close our string. If you look at the line of code where we declare the “message” variable, there is no closing string character.

We can fix this error by closing our string using the same quotation mark that we used to open our string.

def welcome_hero():

    message = "Welcome, Hero!"

    print(message)

​

welcome_hero()

Let’s run our code again:

Welcome, Hero!

Our code runs successfully.

Example Scenario: Mismatching Quotation Marks

The sort of statement you use to open a string should be equivalent to the kind of statement you use to close a string.

A punctuation blunder is returned when the kinds of statements that you use to open and close a string are extraordinary. How about we investigate a program that opens a string utilizing a solitary statement mark (‘) and shuts a string utilizing a twofold statement mark (“):

def welcome_hero():

    message = 'Welcome, Hero!"

    print(message)

​

welcome_hero()

Our code returns:

File "main.py", line 2

    message = 'Welcome, Hero!"

                            ^

SyntaxError: EOL while scanning string literal

We can fix this problem by making our quotations match. We’re going to change our first quotation mark to use double quotes (“):

Conclusion

The “syntaxerror: EOL while scanning string literal” error is experienced by every Python developer. This error happens when:

• You forget to close a string
• You close a string using the wrong symbol
• You declare a multi-line string using one quotation mark instead of three

def welcome_hero():

message = "Welcome, Hero!"

print(message)

​

welcome_hero()