Show pageOld revisionsBacklinksBack to top This page is read only. You can view the source, but not change it. Ask your administrator if you think this is wrong. ====== if __name__ main ====== **General Information** Many python source files will have an interesting if statement around main(). This is why it exists. **Checklist** * Python versions: 2 and 3 ---- ====== The Code ====== <code python> if __name__ == '__main__': main() </code> ===== Explanation ===== It may include other statements as well. This special if statement is checked by the python interpreter itself when it reads the source file. * If the source is being run as the main program, it sets that source file as the special "__name__" variable to "__main__". * If the source file is being imported from another module, the "__name__" variable will be set to the module's name instead. The entire reason behind this is: * Sometimes modules are written to be executed directly. * They could also be imported for use in another module. * The main check allows for only the "main" code to execute if run directly and not if someone imports the module to call functions. python_wiki/if_name_main.txt Last modified: 2019/05/25 23:50(external edit)