Python statements do not need to end with a special character - the python interpreter knows that you are done with an individual statement by the presence of a newline, which will be generated when you press the ``Return'' key of your keyboard. If a statement spans more than one line, the safest course of action is to use a backslash (\) at the end of the line to let python know that you are going to continue the statement on the next line; you can continue using backslashes on additional continuation lines. (There are situations where the backslashes are not needed which will be discussed later.)
Python provides you with a certain level of freedom when composing a program,
but there are some rules which must always be obeyed. One of these rules, which
some people find very surprising, is that python uses indentation (that is, the
amount of white space before the statement itself) to indicate the presence
of loops, instead of using delimiters like curly braces ({}) or keywords
(like ``begin'' and ``end'') as in many other languages. The amount
of indentation
you use is not important,
but it must be consistent within a given depth of a loop, and statements which
are not indented must begin in the first column. Most python programmers
prefer to use an editor like emacs, which automatically provides
consistent indentation; you will probably find it easier to maintain your programs
if you use consistent indentation in every loop, at all depths, and an intelligent
editor is very useful in achieving this.