Jupyter Not Supported Standard Python Scripts Rule

[neerajpatel2505]

In standard Python scripts (.py files):

If the first line starts with an unexpected indent (a space or tab), Python will raise an IndentationError.
Example:
print("Hello")
This gives:
IndentationError: unexpected indent
Python expects top-level code to start at column 0 unless it's inside a block (like a function or loop). So that space is a no-no outside of those.

But in Jupyter Notebook:

Jupyter is more forgiving — it allows leading spaces in the first line of a cell even if the code is at the top level. It doesn't strictly enforce indentation rules the way a .py file would when executed.

[danyeaw]

Hi @neerajpatel2505, thanks for submitting the issue. We can reproduce this in IPython directly which executes the cells in Notebook. I think the forgiveness to indention might be on purpose, but you could open a new issue in the IPython repo to discuss it or request an option to disable this current functionality.

[neerajpatel2505]

Hi @danyeaw, thanks for your valuable response.
Your clarification makes sense — I’ll go ahead and open an issue in the IPython repo to take the discussion further.

Thanks for the clarification!