Namespace Qualification Question

[Sean 'Shaleh' Perry]

On 22-Mar-2002 Craig McLean wrote:
> I've been messing around with python namespaces and I've run into 
> something that I haven't been able to answer.
> 
> Is there a module assosciated with the file you started the interpreter 
> with, and if there is what is it's name?  For instance
> 
>  > python qux.py
> 
> I would have thought that there would be a qux module, and that it's 
> name would be stored in the __name__ builtin.
> 
> If I was using the interpreter interactively would that change things?
> 

When run as a script its __name__ is '__main__'.  This is how all of those
python modules allow themselves to contain test code.

def my_func(arg):
  pass

if __name__ == '__main__':
  my_func()

if you import the above code (say it is in my.py) in an interpreter session or
in a script the __name__ will be 'my'.  If you run it as python my.py its name
is '__main__'.