PyCQA / PyCQA/pycodestyle

E203: False positive "whitespace before ':' " on list slice.

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needs patch
Dominant language
Python
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Description

I've encountered the problem in the following code:

a = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
b = a[1+1 : 2+2]  # E203
c = a[1 + 1 : 2 + 2]  # E203
d = a[1+1:2+2]

However, PEP8 chapter https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0008/#whitespace-in-expressions-and-statements handles this as good style:

However, in a slice the colon acts like a binary operator, and should have equal amounts on either side (treating it as the operator with the lowest priority). In an extended slice, both colons must have the same amount of spacing applied. Exception: when a slice parameter is omitted, the space is omitted.

Yes:

ham[1:9], ham[1:9:3], ham[:9:3], ham[1::3], ham[1:9:]
ham[lower:upper], ham[lower:upper:], ham[lower::step]
ham[lower+offset : upper+offset]
ham[: upper_fn(x) : step_fn(x)], ham[:: step_fn(x)]
ham[lower + offset : upper + offset]
No:

ham[lower + offset:upper + offset]
ham[1: 9], ham[1 :9], ham[1:9 :3]
ham[lower : : upper]
ham[ : upper]

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Run the three slice examples through pycodestyle and compare the E203 results with the PEP 8 guidance quoted in the issue. Locate the E203 checker and its existing tests in the repository; done means valid slice spacing no longer produces a false positive while invalid spacing remains reported.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
python
Domain
tooling
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
3/5
Estimated time
1-2 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
42/100

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