Python Main Function

Those who have coded in for example in C have interacted with the main() function. In python we also have the main() function but its declaration is somehow different .The Main function is like the entry point of a program. However, Python interpreters run the code right from the first line. The execution of the code starts from the starting line and goes line by line. It does not matter where the main function is present or it is present or not.

Since there is no main() function in Python, when the command to run a Python program is given to the interpreter, the code that is at level 0 indentation is to be executed. However, before doing that, it will define a few special variables. __name__is one such special variable. If the source file is executed as the main program, the interpreter sets the __name__ variable to have a value __main__. If this file is being imported from another module, __name__ will be set to the module’s name.
__name__ is a built-in variable which evaluates to the name of the current module.
Lets look at an example:

# Python program to demonstrate
# main() function


print("Hello")

# Defining main function
def main():
    print("hey there")


# Using the special variable
# __name__
if __name__=="__main__":
    main()

Output
Hello
hey there
Explanation
When above program is executed, the interpreter declares the initial value of name as “main”. When the interpreter reaches the if statement it checks for the value of name and when the value of if is true it runs the main function else the main function is not executed.

Main function as Module
Now when we import a Python script as module the __name__ variable gets the value same as the name of the python script imported.

Example2: Let’s consider there are two Files(File1.py and File2.py). File1 is as follow.

*# File1.py *

print("File1 __name__ = %s" %__name__)

if __name__ == "__main__": 
    print("File1 is being run directly")
else: 
    print("File1 is being imported")

Output:

File1 __name__ = __main__
File1 is being run directly
Now, when the File1.py is imported into File2.py, the value of __name__ changes.

# File2.py

import File1 

print("File2 __name__ = %s" %__name__)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    print("File2 is being run directly")
else: 
    print("File2 is being imported"){% embed  %}

Output:

File1 __name__ = File1
File1 is being imported
File2 __name__ = __main__
File2 is being run directly

As seen above, when File1.py is run directly, the interpreter sets the __name__variable as __main__ and when it is run through File2.py by importing, the name variable is set as the name of the python script, i.e. File1. Thus, it can be said that if __name__ == “__main__” is the part of the program that runs when the script is run from the command line using a command like Python File1.py.
There you have it.
You can visit the docs here for more info:

docs.python.org