python - Run indented code through keyboard shortcuts in Spyder as in RStudio

I would like to be able to run an indented block of code in python in the same way I do in R. In particular, if in RStudio I have the following indented block of code:

print(seq(from = 1,
          to = 10,
          by = 1))

I can place the cursor everywhere (at the beginning of the code, in the middle, at the end) except in a new line below and simply press Cmd+Enter (or Ctrl+Enter) and I can run such code.

However, in Spyder 4.2, a similar code like this one:

import pandas as pd

cars = {'Brand': ['Honda', 'Ford','Audi'],
        'Price': [20000, 30000, 40000]}

will not run wherever I place the cursor, and I have to select the two lines to create the dataframe and launch the whole selection with Cmd+Enter (I modified the keyboard shortcuts in the preferences of Spyder to run a selection).

Any advice on how to run such code without selecting it first? Thanks!

Solution

(Spyder maintainer here) You said

Any advice on how to run such code without selecting it first?

Yes, you need to use cells for that. You can create a cell by inserting a comment that starts with # %%, like this

import pandas as pd

# %%
cars = {'Brand': ['Honda', 'Ford','Audi'],
        'Price': [20000, 30000, 40000]}

That will allow you to run the piece of code enclosed by those comments with the keyboard shortcuts Shift + Enter (run current cell and advance to the next one); or Control + Enter (run current cell and stay on it).

If that explanation was not clear enough, you can learn more about cells in our docs.