Main function is like the entry point of a program. However, Python interpreter runs the code right from the first line. The execution of the code starts from the starting line and goes line by line. It does not matter where the main function is present or it is present or not.
Since there is no main() function in Python, when the command to run a Python program is given to the interpreter, the code that is at level 0 indentation is to be executed. However, before doing that, it will define a few special variables. __name__ is one such special variable. If the source file is executed as the main program, the interpreter sets the __name__ variable to have a value __main__. If this file is being imported from another module, __name__ will be set to the module’s name.__name__ is a built-in variable which evaluates to the name of the current module.
Example:
# Python program to demonstrate# main() function print("Hello") # Defining main functiondef main(): print("hey there") # Using the special variable # __name__if __name__=="__main__": main() |
Output:
Hello hey there
When above program is executed, the interpreter declares the initial value of name as “main”. When the interpreter reaches the if statement it checks for the value of name and when the value of if is true it runs the main function else the main function is not executed.
Main function as Module
Now when we import a Python script as module the __name__ variable gets the value same as the name of the python script imported.
Example: Let’s consider there are two Files(File1.py and File2.py). File1 is as follow.
# File1.py print("File1 __name__ = %s" %__name__) if __name__ == "__main__": print("File1 is being run directly")else: print("File1 is being imported") |
Output:
File1 __name__ = __main__ File1 is being run directly
Now, when the File1.py is imported into File2.py, the value of __name__ changes.
# File2.py import File1 print("File2 __name__ = %s" %__name__) if __name__ == "__main__": print("File2 is being run directly")else: print("File2 is being imported") |
Output:
File1 __name__ = File1 File1 is being imported File2 __name__ = __main__ File2 is being run directly
As seen above, when File1.py is run directly, the interpreter sets the __name__ variable as __main__ and when it is run through File2.py by importing, the __name__ variable is set as the name of the python script, i.e. File1. Thus, it can be said that if __name__ == “__main__” is the part of the program that runs when the script is run from the command line using a command like Python File1.py.
