OCR GCSE Computer Science Complete Practice Exam 2026

The term that refers to spaces placed at the beginning of a line of code to help indicate the program's structure is indentation. In programming, indentation is crucial as it visually represents the hierarchy and organization of code, especially in languages like Python, where the indentation level determines block structures, such as functions, loops, and conditionals.

Using consistent indentation allows developers to understand the flow of the program at a glance, aiding readability and maintenance. This clear visual structure is essential for collaboration among programmers, as it helps everyone quickly grasp how different pieces of code relate to one another.

Other concepts, like whitespace, may include spaces, tabs, and newlines more broadly, but they do not specifically address the structural aspect that indentation conveys. Formatting pertains to the overall presentation of code, which can involve various factors beyond just indentation, while alignment typically refers to how lines of text are visually arranged relative to each other, not specifically to the structural organization of code.