5 ms·

> name == "main" What makes this weirder than other languages detecting if they’re an import or an invoked file?

> __name__ == "__main__" What makes this weirder than other languages detecting if they’re an import or an invoked file?

scoofy 22d ago
It’s only weird syntactically. Python tends to lean towards intuitive, natural language by default. I would have assumed they’d have created a syntactically straightforward alternative, like: __this_file__ == “__launch_file__” or similar. I understand python values “only one way” of doing things, but it would be helpful for readability.
- wodenokoto 22d ago
  No, the “readable” shortcut would have been if __main__: There are no magic strings to remember and the IDE can help you look up variables.
  - scoofy 22d ago
    Again, this is a CS/Math major kind of thinking. The term __main__ means nothing syntactically. If we care about language acquisition -- thus language adoption -- it is always better to make "very common terms" in the language understandable to someone who is completely illiterate to your formal language. I honestly think one of the main reasons why python is so successful is as simple as: print "Hello world!" ...and later: print("Hello world!") It might not seem like much, but when you're asking someone to pick up a language outside of a classroom setting, it's just much more intuitive than: echo "Hello world!"; or: console.log("Hello world!"); or god forbid: public class GFG{ public static void main(String[] args) { System.out.println("Hello world!"); } } These little things matter in the long run, even if they don't seem like they matter when you're already fluent.
    - frollogaston 21d ago
      Idk what's better, console.log or print, cause way back as a beginner I was confused what it means to print something. Like with ink? They're both ok, unlike the C++ or Java ways. But Python breaking hello world in version 3 was crazy.
      - scoofy 21d ago
        Again, I would argue “very common commands” like printing text should be so unbelievably intuitive that beginners can use them even before learning what a “console” is, why there are “logs” and how dot notation works.

> __name__ == "__main__" What makes this weirder than other languages detecting if they’re an import or an invoked file?

scoofy 22d ago

It’s only weird syntactically. Python tends to lean towards intuitive, natural language by default. I would have assumed they’d have created a syntactically straightforward alternative, like: __this_file__ == “__launch_file__” or similar. I understand python values “only one way” of doing things, but it would be helpful for readability.

wodenokoto 22d ago
No, the “readable” shortcut would have been if __main__: There are no magic strings to remember and the IDE can help you look up variables.
- scoofy 22d ago
  Again, this is a CS/Math major kind of thinking. The term __main__ means nothing syntactically. If we care about language acquisition -- thus language adoption -- it is always better to make "very common terms" in the language understandable to someone who is completely illiterate to your formal language. I honestly think one of the main reasons why python is so successful is as simple as: print "Hello world!" ...and later: print("Hello world!") It might not seem like much, but when you're asking someone to pick up a language outside of a classroom setting, it's just much more intuitive than: echo "Hello world!"; or: console.log("Hello world!"); or god forbid: public class GFG{ public static void main(String[] args) { System.out.println("Hello world!"); } } These little things matter in the long run, even if they don't seem like they matter when you're already fluent.
  - frollogaston 21d ago
    Idk what's better, console.log or print, cause way back as a beginner I was confused what it means to print something. Like with ink? They're both ok, unlike the C++ or Java ways. But Python breaking hello world in version 3 was crazy.
    - scoofy 21d ago
      Again, I would argue “very common commands” like printing text should be so unbelievably intuitive that beginners can use them even before learning what a “console” is, why there are “logs” and how dot notation works.