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https://github.com/python/cpython
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Tip revision: 7ea0551592d80584b318099d5ebde4e7c552679f authored by Ned Deily on 11 December 2019, 08:27:49 UTC
3.6.10rc1
Tip revision: 7ea0551
__main__.rst

:mod:`__main__` --- Top-level script environment
================================================

.. module:: __main__
   :synopsis: The environment where the top-level script is run.

--------------

``'__main__'`` is the name of the scope in which top-level code executes.
A module's __name__ is set equal to ``'__main__'`` when read from
standard input, a script, or from an interactive prompt.

A module can discover whether or not it is running in the main scope by
checking its own ``__name__``, which allows a common idiom for conditionally
executing code in a module when it is run as a script or with ``python
-m`` but not when it is imported::

   if __name__ == "__main__":
       # execute only if run as a script
       main()

For a package, the same effect can be achieved by including a
``__main__.py`` module, the contents of which will be executed when the
module is run with ``-m``.
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