Section 3.3. Running Python Programs


3.3. Running Python Programs

Whatever tools you use to produce your Python application, you can see your application as a set of Python source files, which are normal text files. A script is a file that you can run directly. A module is a file that you can import (as covered in Chapter 7) to provide functionality to other files or to interactive sessions. A Python file can be both a module and a script, exposing functionality when imported, but is also suitable for being run directly. A useful and widespread convention is that Python files that are primarily intended to be imported as modules, when run directly, should execute some simple self-test operations, as covered in "Testing" on page 452.

The Python interpreter automatically compiles Python source files as needed. Python source files normally have extension .py. Python saves the compiled bytecode file for each module in the same directory as the module's source, with the same basename and extension .pyc (or .pyo if Python is run with option -O). Python does not save the compiled bytecode form of a script when you run the script directly; rather, Python recompiles the script each time you run it. Python saves bytecode files only for modules you import. It automatically rebuilds each module's bytecode file whenever necessaryfor example, when you edit the module's source. Eventually, for deployment, you may package Python modules using tools covered in Chapter 27.

You can run Python code interactively with the Python interpreter or an IDE. Normally, however, you initiate execution by running a top-level script. To run a script, give its path as an argument to python, as covered earlier in "The python Program" on page 22. Depending on your operating system, you can invoke python directly from a shell script or in a command file. On Unix-like systems, you can make a Python script directly executable by setting the file's permission bits x and r and beginning the script with a so-called shebang line, which is a first line such as:

 #!/usr/bin/env python {options} 

or some other line starting with #! followed by a path to the python interpreter program.

On Windows, you can associate file extensions .py, .pyc, and .pyo with the Python interpreter in the Windows Registry. Most Python versions for Windows perform this association when installed. You can then run Python scripts with the usual Windows mechanisms, such as double-clicking on their icons. On Windows, when you run a Python script by double-clicking on the script's icon, Windows automatically closes the text-mode console associated with the script as soon as the script terminates. If you want the console to linger, to allow the user to read the script's output on the screen, you need to ensure the script doesn't terminate too soon. For example, use the following as the script's last statement:

 raw_input('Press Enter to terminate') 

This is not necessary when you run the script from a preexisting console (also known as a Command Prompt window).

On Windows, you can also use extension .pyw and interpreter program pythonw.exe instead of .py and python.exe. The w variants run Python without a text-mode console, and thus without standard input and output. These variants are appropriate for scripts that rely on GUIs or run invisibly in the background. Use them only when a program is fully debugged, to keep standard output and error available for information, warnings, and error messages during development. On the Mac, you need to use interpreter program pythonw, rather than python, when you want to run a script that needs to access any GUI toolkit, rather than just text-mode interaction.

Applications coded in other languages may embed Python, which controls the execution of Python code for their own purposes. We examine this subject further in "Embedding Python" on page 647.




Python in a Nutshell
Python in a Nutshell, Second Edition (In a Nutshell)
ISBN: 0596100469
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2004
Pages: 192
Authors: Alex Martelli

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