[Tutor] Read from large text file, parse, find string, print string + line number to second text file.

[Scurvy Scott]

> Best practice is to check if your program is being run as a script before
> doing anything. That way you can still import the module for testing or
> similar:
>
>
> def main(mystring, infile, outfile):
>    # do stuff here
>
>
> if __name__ == '__main__':
>    # Running as a script.
>    import sys
>    mystring = sys.argv[1]
>    infile = sys.argv[2]
>    outfile = sys.argv[3]
>    main(mystring, infile, outfile)
>
>
>
> Best practice for scripts (not just Python scripts, but *any* script) is to
> provide help when asked. Insert this after the "import sys" line, before you
> start processing:
>
>    if '-h' in sys.argv or '--help' in sys.argv:
>        print(help_text)
>        sys.exit()
>
>
>
> If your argument processing is more complicated that above, you should use
> one of the three argument parsing modules that Python provides:
>
> http://docs.python.org/2/library/getopt.html
> http://docs.python.org/2/library/optparse.html (deprecated -- do not use
> this for new code)
> http://docs.python.org/2/library/argparse.html
>
>
> getopt is (in my opinion) the simplest to get started, but the weakest.
>
> There are also third-party argument parsers that you could use. Here's one
> which I have never used but am intrigued by:
>
> http://docopt.org/
>
>
>
> --
> Steven
>
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Steve-
 thanks a lot for showing me the if __name__ = main part
I've often wondered how it was used and it didn't make sense until I
saw it in my own code if that makes any sense.
Also appreciate the help on the "instructional" side of things.

One question related to the instruction aspect- does this make sense to you?

If len(sys.argv) == 0:
    print "usage: etc etc etc"



Nick, Dave, and Steve, again, you guys are awesome. Thanks for all your help.

Scott