Your first program: print()

4 min read

By the end of this lesson you'll have written programs that talk back: words, numbers, and a receipt with neat lines. You'll also meet your first error messages and learn to read them calmly. Everything in this lesson runs here in your browser, so a phone is enough.

Quotes change everything

Here are two lines that look almost the same. Before you read any explanation, guess what each one does.

What will this print?

Decide before you look. Guessing wrong is how this sticks.

print("Selam")
print(Selam)

Your prediction

Python prints

Selam
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<your code>", line 2, in <module>
    print(Selam)
          ^^^^^
NameError: name 'Selam' is not defined

The first line prints the text Selam. The second has no quotes, so Python doesn't treat Selam as text: it looks for something named Selam, finds nothing, and stops with a NameError.

Now run the first line on its own. Then click into the code, change the words, and run it again. You just edited a program.

print("Selam")

Ctrl or Cmd + Enter runs

print is a functionfunctionA named piece of code that does a job when you call it. You call it by writing its name followed by parentheses.: a tool with a name that does one job. Its job is to show values on the screen. You put what you want to show inside the parentheses.

The text between the quotes is a stringstringText in your code, written between quotes. Python shows it exactly as you typed it.. Python doesn't try to understand a string. It shows it exactly as written, without the quotes. Without quotes, Python reads a word as a name, and looks for what that name means. Selam doesn't mean anything to Python yet; in Module 1 you'll learn to give names a meaning.

A diagram in three steps. First, your code: print with the string Selam. Second, Python reads the line. Third, the word Selam appears on the screen without quotes. — What happens when you press Run: Python reads each line and shows the result.

So a tiny difference, two quote marks, changes what Python does completely. Python never guesses what you meant. It does exactly what you wrote.

A program can have many lines. Python runs them from top to bottom, and each print starts a new line.

print("Good morning, Hana.")
print("Your macchiato is ready.")
print("That will be 45 birr.")

Ctrl or Cmd + Enter runs

Words and numbers

Numbers don't need quotes. Without quotes, Python treats a number as a number, so it can do arithmetic before printing. With quotes, the same characters are only text.

What will this print?

Decide before you look. Guessing wrong is how this sticks.

print("2 + 3")
print(2 + 3)

Your prediction

Python prints

2 + 3
5

With quotes, 2 + 3 is text, so it's shown as typed. Without quotes, Python adds the numbers first and prints the result.

print(250)
print(250 + 30)
print(1200 - 350)

Ctrl or Cmd + Enter runs

Printing several things

You can give print several values at once, separated by commas. This is how you mix text and numbers on one line.

What will this print?

Decide before you look. Guessing wrong is how this sticks.

print("Total:", 120, "birr")

Python prints

Total: 120 birr

The commas separate the values in your code; they are not printed. Between values, print adds one space.

That space is only the default. Two settings change how print joins things and how it finishes:

sep is what goes between values. It's a space unless you say otherwise.
end is what goes after the last value. It's a new line unless you say otherwise.

print("29", "09", "2026", sep="/")
print("Loading", end="...")
print("done")

Ctrl or Cmd + Enter runs

The first line joins three values with / instead of spaces. The second ends with ... instead of a new line, so the next print carries on along the same line.

Now change it: make the first line print your name and city on one line, separated by - (a space, a dash, a space), like Hana - Addis Ababa.

Quick check

What does print(1, 2, 3, sep="") show?

New lines inside a string

Two more ways to control lines. Inside a string, \n means "start a new line here". And print() with nothing inside prints an empty line.

print("Selam Coffee\nBole Road")
print()
print("Open every day")

Ctrl or Cmd + Enter runs

Reading error messages

Sooner or later, and usually sooner, Python will stop and show you an errorerrorPython's message when it can't run your code. The last line names the problem.. This is normal. Programmers see errors all day. The trick is to read the last line first: it names the problem, and in Python 3.14 it often suggests the fix. Here are four you'll almost certainly meet.

Common mistake

This breaks

print("Hello)

Python says

SyntaxError: unterminated string literal (detected at line 1)

The fix

print("Hello")

Every opening quote needs a closing quote. Python reached the end of the line still inside the string, so it couldn't tell where your text stops.

Common mistake

This breaks

print(“Selam”)

Python says

SyntaxError: invalid character '“' (U+201C)

The fix

print("Selam")

Those are curly "smart" quotes. Telegram, Word, and some websites turn straight quotes into curly ones when you copy code. Python only accepts straight quotes, so retype them in the code box or your editor.

Common mistake

This breaks

print "Hello"

Python says

SyntaxError: Missing parentheses in call to 'print'. Did you mean print(...)?

The fix

print("Hello")

Very old Python (version 2) wrote print without parentheses, and old tutorials still show it. The error tells you the fix: add the parentheses.

Common mistake

This breaks

Print("Hi")

Python says

NameError: name 'Print' is not defined. Did you mean: 'print'?

The fix

print("Hi")

Python cares about capital letters. Print and print are different names, and only the lowercase one exists. Python even suggests it.

Your turn. Run this, read the last line of the error, and fix it.

prnt("Selam")

Ctrl or Cmd + Enter runs

Quick check

print(Hana) gives NameError: name 'Hana' is not defined. What's the fix?

Exercise

Print a taxi receipt

Write a program that prints a receipt for a taxi ride over three lines, exactly like this. Use print with several values for the fare line, so the number isn't inside the quotes.

Output

From: Bole
To: Piassa
Fare: 250 birr

Your code

# From, to, and fare, one line each

Ctrl or Cmd + Enter runs

Show a solution

This is one way to solve it, not the only one. If yours prints the same thing, it works.

print("From: Bole")
print("To: Piassa")
print("Fare:", 250, "birr")

Key takeaways

print() shows values on the screen, one line per call.
Quotes make text. Without quotes, Python looks for a name, and a name it doesn't know is a NameError.
Commas give print several values; sep sets what goes between them and end what comes after. \n starts a new line inside a string.
Read the last line of an error first. It names the problem and often suggests the fix.