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Re: How about some syntactic sugar for " __name__ == '__main__' "?

From Marko Rauhamaa <marko@pacujo.net>
Newsgroups comp.lang.python
Subject Re: How about some syntactic sugar for " __name__ == '__main__' "?
Date 2014-11-12 23:52 +0200
Organization A noiseless patient Spider
Message-ID <8761ekqe6u.fsf@elektro.pacujo.net> (permalink)
References <71b9a111-283f-4006-bc9d-e35782d9888c@googlegroups.com>

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John Ladasky <john_ladasky@sbcglobal.net>:

> I find myself bothered by the programming idiom that we use to
> determine whether a module is being executed or merely imported:
>
>   "if __name__ == '__main__':"

I find the idiom cute and loveably silly. A typing tongue twister of
sorts. That boilerplate is far less cumbersome than, say, in Java.

> Myself, I've been programming in Python for a decade, and I still
> haven't dug very deeply into what exactly __name__ means or does.

The idiom allows you to include a main function in auxiliary modules.
When imported, the module acts as a library. When executed, it acts as a
command. I have done this a couple of times IRL.

> I would like to start a discussion about whether Python should include
> a function which executes this evaluation, and hides all of the
> unfriendly dunderish details.

Probably not. Idioms are important in that they are immediately spotted
by a casual reader of the code. However ugly you consider those two
lines, it will not waste a measurable amount of your precious time to
begin your brand new project by typing:

   import sys

   def main():
       pass

   if __name__ == "__main__":
       main()


Yes, I always type those in again. I don't copy them over as I do, say,
Java main programs or static HTML pages.


Marko

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Thread

How about some syntactic sugar for " __name__ == '__main__' "? John Ladasky <john_ladasky@sbcglobal.net> - 2014-11-12 13:02 -0800
  Re: How about some syntactic sugar for " __name__ == '__main__' "? Joel Goldstick <joel.goldstick@gmail.com> - 2014-11-12 16:07 -0500
  Re: How about some syntactic sugar for " __name__ == '__main__' "? John Ladasky <john_ladasky@sbcglobal.net> - 2014-11-12 13:17 -0800
  Re: How about some syntactic sugar for " __name__ == '__main__' "? Ethan Furman <ethan@stoneleaf.us> - 2014-11-12 13:19 -0800
  Re: How about some syntactic sugar for " __name__ == '__main__' "? Chris Kaynor <ckaynor@zindagigames.com> - 2014-11-12 13:33 -0800
  Re: How about some syntactic sugar for " __name__ == '__main__' "? Marko Rauhamaa <marko@pacujo.net> - 2014-11-12 23:52 +0200
  Re: How about some syntactic sugar for " __name__ == '__main__' "? Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2014-11-12 14:51 -0700
  Re: How about some syntactic sugar for " __name__ == '__main__' "? Skip Montanaro <skip.montanaro@gmail.com> - 2014-11-12 15:55 -0600
  Re: How about some syntactic sugar for " __name__ == '__main__' "? Chris Kaynor <ckaynor@zindagigames.com> - 2014-11-12 14:09 -0800
    Re: How about some syntactic sugar for " __name__ == '__main__' "? Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2014-11-15 22:09 +1100
      Re: How about some syntactic sugar for " __name__ == '__main__' "? Marko Rauhamaa <marko@pacujo.net> - 2014-11-15 13:54 +0200
      Re: How about some syntactic sugar for " __name__ == '__main__' "? Vito De Tullio <vito.detullio@gmail.com> - 2014-11-16 11:26 +0100
  Re: How about some syntactic sugar for " __name__ == '__main__' "? Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2014-11-12 15:19 -0700
  Re: How about some syntactic sugar for " __name__ == '__main__' "? Terry Reedy <tjreedy@udel.edu> - 2014-11-12 18:19 -0500
  Re: How about some syntactic sugar for " __name__ == '__main__' "? Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2014-11-13 10:26 +1100
  Re: How about some syntactic sugar for " __name__ == '__main__' "? Terry Reedy <tjreedy@udel.edu> - 2014-11-12 19:35 -0500
  Re: How about some syntactic sugar for " __name__ == '__main__' "? Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2014-11-13 11:54 +1100
  Re: How about some syntactic sugar for " __name__ == '__main__' "? Ethan Furman <ethan@stoneleaf.us> - 2014-11-13 10:32 -0800
  Re: How about some syntactic sugar for " __name__ == '__main__' "? Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2014-11-13 13:33 -0700
  Re: How about some syntactic sugar for " __name__ == '__main__' "? Ethan Furman <ethan@stoneleaf.us> - 2014-11-13 12:43 -0800
  Re: How about some syntactic sugar for " __name__ == '__main__' "? Skip Montanaro <skip.montanaro@gmail.com> - 2014-11-13 14:44 -0600
  Re: How about some syntactic sugar for " __name__ == '__main__' "? Skip Montanaro <skip.montanaro@gmail.com> - 2014-11-13 14:53 -0600
  Re: How about some syntactic sugar for " __name__ == '__main__' "? Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2014-11-13 15:48 -0700
  Re: How about some syntactic sugar for " __name__ == '__main__' "? Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2014-11-13 15:56 -0700
  Re: How about some syntactic sugar for " __name__ == '__main__' "? Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2014-11-15 21:52 +1100
  Re: How about some syntactic sugar for " __name__ == '__main__' "? Vito De Tullio <vito.detullio@gmail.com> - 2014-11-16 11:39 +0100
  Re: How about some syntactic sugar for " __name__ == '__main__' "? Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2014-11-16 10:15 -0700
  Re: How about some syntactic sugar for " __name__ == '__main__' "? Ethan Furman <ethan@stoneleaf.us> - 2014-12-01 15:19 -0800
  Re: How about some syntactic sugar for " __name__ == '__main__' "? Ethan Furman <ethan@stoneleaf.us> - 2014-12-01 16:45 -0800
  Re: How about some syntactic sugar for " __name__ == '__main__' "? Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2014-12-02 12:15 +1100
  Re: How about some syntactic sugar for " __name__ == '__main__' "? Ethan Furman <ethan@stoneleaf.us> - 2014-12-02 02:17 -0800

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