Python's "semantic whitespace" is syntax that gives meaning to a common pattern in code. Most code that way by convention anyway. If that pattern has meaning

Python's "semantic whitespace" is syntax that gives meaning to a common pattern in code. Most code that way by convention anyway. If that pattern has meaning then curly braces can be used for something else (in python's case: dictionary literals). Hope it makes more sense now, even if you don't prefer that style.