ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Python syntax and semantics

Hey kiddo, do you know what a language is? Just like how people use different languages to talk to each other, computers also have their own language to understand and execute our commands.

Python is one such language that is used to write computer programs. It has its own set of rules that tell the computer what to do and how to do it. These rules are called syntax.

Syntax is like a set of instructions that the computer understands. Just like how you have to follow certain rules while playing a game, we have to follow certain rules while writing code in Python. For example, in Python, we write our commands inside what we call functions. And every function starts with the word "def". So it's like a signal that tells the computer to expect a function.

Now, have you ever heard the term "grammar"? It's like a set of rules that tells us how to form sentences in a language. In the same way, semantics is the meaning behind the words we use. It tells us what the words and commands we use in Python actually mean and what the computer should do after they are executed.

For example, if we write a command that says "print('Hello, world!')", the syntax tells the computer that we want to use the "print" function to print something, and the semantics tells it that we want to print the words "Hello, world!".

So, syntax and semantics work together to help us write Python code. Syntax sets the rules, and semantics makes sure that the computer understands what we want it to do. Isn't that cool?