How Can I Fix 'SyntaxError' When Using Non-ASCII Characters in My Python Script?

Non-ASCII Characters in Python Scripts: Resolving "SyntaxError" Issues

Problem: When attempting to use non-ASCII characters in a Python script, users often encounter "SyntaxError" messages, indicating that the specific character is not recognized by the current encoding.

Explanation: Python scripts require explicit encoding declarations to handle non-ASCII characters. Without such declarations, the Python interpreter assumes ASCII encoding, which does not include many non-ASCII characters like the pound symbol (£).

Solution: To resolve the error, users should provide an encoding declaration at the top of their Python script. For UTF-8 encoding, which supports most non-ASCII characters, use the following code:

# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-

Alternatively, users can specify the encoding on a string-by-string basis using the encode() method with the appropriate encoding parameter.

Example: To use the pound symbol in a string literal, encode it using UTF-8:

pound_symbol = u'£'.encode('utf-8')

By following these guidelines, developers can successfully incorporate non-ASCII characters into their Python scripts, avoiding "SyntaxError" issues.

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