What is the purpose of name?

Question

What does __name__ do? I have only seen it paired with __main__ and nothing else.

I know that the classic if __name__ == __main__: defines the behavior when acting as a package vs running as stand-alone.

However what other usages are there for __name__?

Possible duplicate of [What does if \_\_name\_\_ == "\_\_main\_\_" do?](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/419163/what-does-if-name-main-do). I realize that you mentioned your knowledge of that particular use, but the accepted answer does give you the answer you seek. — zondo, Apr 30 '16 at 00:16

score 10 · Accepted Answer · edited Apr 30 '16 at 00:34

10

__name__ is "__main__" if you're executing the script directly. If you're importing a module, __name__ is the name of the module.

foo.py:

print(__name__)

bar.py

import foo

Run the scripts:

$ python foo.py
__main__
$ python bar.py 
foo

edited Apr 30 '16 at 00:34

chepner

answered Apr 30 '16 at 00:28

T. Arboreus

1

Is there any other usage other than knowing the module's name? – drum Apr 30 '16 at 01:51
The "if __name__ = '__main__' idiom allows you to create different behaviors based on whether a script is called directly or as a module. That's the most common use case. It might potentially have some use in debugging or reporting in unit tests. – T. Arboreus Apr 30 '16 at 02:50

1 Answers1