This isn't a very realistic error. I think one would be much more likely to get this line correct, especially since the condition `dx > dy` is right above it. It is much more likely that one would mess up the line below. For example if one copy pasted `scaled = float(dy) / dx` and forgot to change it in the `else` clause. The way it currently reads just makes it hard to understand what the code it trying to do; whereas, an error in the `else` clause seems much more plausible to go unnoticed since one has already figured out what the intention of the `if-else` statement is after reading the `if` clause.