Syntax errors, also known as parsing errors, are perhaps the most common
kind of complaint you get while you are still learning Python:
>>> while 1 print 'Hello world'
File "<stdin>", line 1
while 1 print 'Hello world'
^
SyntaxError: invalid syntax
The parser repeats the offending line and displays a little `arrow'
pointing at the earliest point in the line where the error was detected.
The error is caused by (or at least detected at) the token
preceding
the arrow: in the example, the error is detected at the keyword
print, since a colon (:) is missing before it.
File name and line number are printed so you know where to look in case
the input came from a script.
guido@python.org