python syntax error in script, fine in REPL [duplicate]

Question

When I put this python code into the REPL for python (the interactive shell), it works as expected:

>>> def get_header():
...     return (None,None,None)
... 
>>> get_header()
(None, None, None)

Note that the return statement is indented by four spaces, and I have checked to ensure there are no extraneous spaces.

when I put the exact same code into a python script file and execute it, I get the following error:

./test.py: line 1: syntax error near unexpected token `('
./test.py: line 1: `def get_header():'

WHY?

EDIT: this is the exact contents of test.py, white spaces and all:

def get_header():
    return (None,None,None)

get_header()

I have verified that the above script (test.py) does yield the above error as it above stands.

Please post the exact contents of test.py, indentation and all. — Michael Berkowski
– Michael Berkowski, Commented Dec 28, 2011 at 16:55
I call shenanigans. Post at least lines 1 through 6 of your test.py file. — tylerl
– tylerl, Commented Dec 28, 2011 at 17:06
call it with python test.py . As one of the answers suggests, you are missing the shebang line — jdi
– jdi, Commented Dec 28, 2011 at 17:14

dhwthompson · Accepted Answer · 2011-12-28 17:12:16Z

11

The reason this is not working is that you don’t have anything telling bash that this is a Python script, so it tries to execute it as a shell script, then throws an error when the syntax isn’t right.

What you need is to start the file with a shebang line, telling it what it should be run with. So your file becomes:

#!/usr/bin/env python

def get_header():
    return (None, None, None)

print get_header()

answered Dec 28, 2011 at 17:12

dhwthompson

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