syntaxerror: unexpected character after line continuation character in python

Question

Can anybody tell me what is wrong in this program? I face

syntaxerror unexpected character after line continuation character

when I run this program:

f = open(D\\python\\HW\\2_1 - Copy.cp,"r");  
lines = f.readlines();

for i in lines:  
    thisline = i.split(" ");

Answer 1

You need to quote that filename:

f = open("D\\python\\HW\\2_1 - Copy.cp", "r")

Otherwise the bare backslash after the D is interpreted as a line-continuation character, and should be followed by a newline. This is used to extend long expressions over multiple lines, for readability:

print "This is a long",\
      "line of text",\
      "that I'm printing."

Also, you shouldn't have semicolons (;) at the end of your statements in Python.

Answer 2

Replace

f = open(D\\python\\HW\\2_1 - Copy.cp,"r");

by

f = open("D:\\python\\HW\\2_1 - Copy.cp", "r")

1. File path needs to be a string (constant)
2. need colon in Windows file path
3. space after comma for better style
4. ; after statement is allowed but fugly.

What tutorial are you using?