this post was submitted on 28 May 2025
706 points (96.2% liked)

Programmer Humor

23563 readers
1094 users here now

Welcome to Programmer Humor!

This is a place where you can post jokes, memes, humor, etc. related to programming!

For sharing awful code theres also Programming Horror.

Rules

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
Feyter@programming.dev
anzo@programming.dev
BurningTurtle@programming.dev
pylapp@programming.dev
706
Python needs an actual default function (lemmy.ml)
submitted 3 days ago by HiddenLayer555@lemmy.ml to c/programmer_humor@programming.dev
160 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Also, do y'all call main() in the if block or do you just put the code you want to run in the if block?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] bastion@feddit.nl 1 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Yes, because

In the first kind of language, the thought process is basically: I have the flow of execution, starting at the top of the file. If I want to make a library, I should build the things I want to build, then get out of the way.

Note the "I have the flow of execution", and the "if I want to build a library".

If you just want to build an executable, do as you wish, you already have the flow of execution.

If you want to build a library, make the relevant classes and functions and get out of the way (i.e., no IO, no long-running tasks).

If you want to combine them, use the main name check - or, make a package and do entry points that way. Either way works, because both can fulfill the goal of staying out of the way of those importing this as a library.