Josiah Carlson wrote:
"Brett Cannon" <brett@python.org> wrote:
On 2/9/07, Ron Adam <rrr@ronadam.com> wrote:
Brett Cannon wrote:
On 2/8/07, Ron Adam <rrr@ronadam.com> wrote: [SNIP]
If you remove the "__main__" name, then you will still need to have some attribute for python to determine the same thing. Why? There is nothing saying we can't follow most other languages and just have a reserved function name that gets executed if the module is executed. Yes, but this is where python is different from other languages. In a way, python's main *is* the whole module from the top to bottom. And so the '__main__' name is referring to the whole module and not just a function in it.
A more specific function would be needed to get the context right. Maybe __script__(), or __run__().
Or if you want to be consistent with class's, how about adding __call__() to modules? Then the main body of the module effectively works the same way as it does in a class. =)
Hey, I think that has some cool possibilities, it makes modules callable in general. So if I want to run a module's __call__(), AKA main() as you call it, after importing I would just do...
import module module()
And it would just work. ;-)
I like this idea. Makes it very obvious. You just say "when a specific module is specified at the command line it is called. Could even have it take possibly sys.argv[1:] (which I think was supposed to turn into sys.args or sys.arg or something at some point).
What do other people think?
I don't like it. Much of my dislike comes from personal aesthetics, ....
Fair enough. I have one aesthetic dislike myself, but its really minor. Currently you can always look at the bottom of files to see what they will do if you execute them. With a main() function of any type, it may be someplace else. But I can live with that if the name is always the same and doesn't change.
.... but then there is a logical disconnect. When an instance of a class is created, its __call__ method is not automatically called. By using the semantic of 'the __call__ function in the module namespace is automatically executed if the module is "run" from the command line', we are introducing a different instance creation semantic (an imported module is an instance of ModuleType).
I'm not sure I follow. Importing a module would not call it's __call__() function. As I've shown above it's an extra step. Running a module isn't the same as importing one. A lot of stuff goes on under the covers, so there really is no logical disconnect. What it really does is just add one additional step to the "run from a command line" sequence of events.
I think we should just stick with what has been proposed for *years*, a __main__ function that is automatically executed after the module has been imported if its __name__ == '__main__'. Even better, anyone who wants to write code compatible with the updated syntax can include the following literal block at the end of their files...
if __name__ == '__main__': try: __main__ except NameError: pass else: try: __main__() finally: try: from __future__ import disable_run except SyntaxError: #we are using an older Python pass else: #we are using a new Python, and #disabling automatic running succeeded pass
With such a semantic, current users of Python could include the above literal block and it would *just work*...then again, the new semantic wouldn't really be useful if people started using the above literal block.
That seems to be too much for some reason. If __name__ returns the real name and a function ismain() is a new builtin, then these short one liners would work. # Put at bottom of new programs so they work with older python too. if __name__ == '__main__': __call__() # Makes old programs work with newer python. # Add this above "if __name__=='__main__'". if hasattr(__builtins__, 'ismain') and ismain(): __name__ = '__main__' Cheers, Ron