1 reply to this topic

[restin84]

Hi guys. I have experience in C++ and Java. When writing python programs(presently very simple programs) is there any need for a "main" function as there is in Java or C++?

[dargueta]

Technically no, but in good practice yes. The thing is that a Python script can be used as a library and run as a program itself. Generally what people do is put the following code into Python files they want to be able to execute on their own:

# Put this at the bottom of your file
def main( ...args and stuff in here... ):
    ...do your stuff in here...

if __name__ == "__main__":
    main(...put any arguments in here...)

This way, if someone imports that script as a library instead of executing it directly, that script doesn't try to run as its own program and do weird things.