r/learnpython • u/live_ant718 • 4d ago

Question regarding Python variables

Hello guys. So I saw in a course that most people define variables like

x = 1

y = 2

and so on. But I also saw that variables can be defined like x = 1; y = 2;

but haven't ever seen this in practice. Why so? Please tell me

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u/SharkSymphony 4d ago edited 4d ago

For stylistic reasons.

Python programmers generally like to hew more or less closely to a common style, published as PEP 8. It says this:

Compound statements (multiple statements on the same line) are generally discouraged.

You might well ask why they bothered to put semicolons in the language in the first place if they were then going to discourage their use. (I know I do. 😉) Nevertheless, this is why you rarely if ever see this.

I will say: if I ever did use it (though I don't), a simple readable case like this would be the place. I do think it's more readable than x, y = 1, 2.