[Python-ideas] Replacing the if __name__ == "__main__" idiom (was Re: making a module callable)

[Guido van Rossum]

Haven't followed all of this, but perhaps the simplest thing would be to
define a new builtin function that returns True in the namespace of the
main module and false everywhere else. It could be implemented by pulling
'__name__' out of the caller's local namespace and comparing it to
'__main__'. We could name this function __main__(), or perhaps less
dramatic, is_main(). Then you could write

if is_main():
    <do your main code>

For people who want to use this idiom on older platforms too they can
easily implement it themselves using sys._getframe().

This is less magical than introducing a @mainfunction decorator, not really
more typing, and easily understood by people who already know the old "if
__name__ == '__main__'" idiom.

-- 
--Guido van Rossum (python.org/~guido)
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