On Tue, Nov 26, 2013 at 9:12 AM, Ron Adam <ron3200@gmail.com> wrote:
I was thinking that __main__ would be set to "__main__" first, then when the main module is loaded, it's __name__ attribute set to __main__ rather than "__main__". Exactly as the first example above.
I thought you were describing assigning a particular string to __name__, which is where the problem would come from. If it's being set to "whatever's in __main__", then yes, your description is correct and it's safe. OTOH, what you now have is: # standard idiom, everyone knows this works if __name__ is __main__: # use of actual thing: it's a string print(__name__) # everywhere else, this is the wrong thing to do: if input() is "yes": do_dangerous_stuff() So now you have to explain why it's right to use 'is', but only with these things, which are magical. Possibly the easiest would be to guarantee that __main__ and __name__ are sys.intern()'d, which could then lead into an explanation of interning rather than an explanation of magic. ChrisA