diff -r e8c184d8407d Doc/library/__main__.rst --- a/Doc/library/__main__.rst Sun Apr 13 19:52:23 2014 +0300 +++ b/Doc/library/__main__.rst Mon Apr 14 14:10:41 2014 -0400 @@ -5,13 +5,19 @@ .. 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. -This module represents the (otherwise anonymous) scope in which the -interpreter's main program executes --- commands read either from standard -input, from a script file, or from an interactive prompt. It is this -environment in which the idiomatic "conditional script" stanza causes a script -to run:: +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``.