Python IDLE: Run main?

Question

I'm in IDLE:

>>> import mymodule
>>> # ???

After importing a module with:

if __name__ == '__main__':
    doStuff()

How do I actually call main from IDLE?

Answer 1

The if condition on __name__ == '__main__' is meant for code to be run when your module is executed directly and not run when it is imported. There is really no such concept of "main" as e.g. in Java. As Python is interpreted, all lines of code are read and executed when importing/running the module.

Python provides the __name__ mechanism for you to distinguish the import case from the case when you run your module as a script i.e. python mymodule.py. In this second case __name__ will have the value '__main__'

If you want a main() that you can run, simply write:

def main():
   do_stuff()
   more_stuff()

if __name__ == '__main__':
   main()