An expression is a piece of code that produces a value: 2 + 3 produces 5. "Ama" produces the text Ama.
A statement is a complete instruction: print this, store that. Statements often contain expressions, print(2 + 3) is a statement holding the expression 2 + 3.
EXAMPLE
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YOUR TURN
Your turn → Write one more line that calculates the number of days in 52 weeks (52 * 7).
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Syntax has to be exact. Every quote, bracket and parenthesis needs its partner, and in Python the spaces at the start of a line count. One slip and the program won't run; the message will say where.
✦ Key distinction
print("7 + 3") with quotes prints the characters 7 + 3. print(7 + 3) without quotes evaluates the expression first and prints 10. Quotes mean "treat this as text." No quotes mean "work this out."
EXAMPLE
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YOUR TURN
Your turn → Add two lines of your own: one that prints the text 52 * 7 exactly as written, and one that prints the number of days in 52 weeks, worked out by the computer.
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Syntax has to be exact. Every quote, bracket and parenthesis needs its partner, and in Python the spaces at the start of a line count. One slip and the program won't run; the message will say where.
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