Hello, in this tutorial, we will learn about the main function in the Python programming language.
1. Introduction
The main function in python programming is the starting point of a program. The python interpreter runs the code sequentially. The main function in python programming gives the program a starting point for the execution and is useful to better understand how the program works. A simple python program looks like this –
Snippet
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 | def main(): print("Hello python programming.")# declaring the call function# this will call the main function and print the console log.if __name__ == '__main__': main() |
However, do remember it is not a compulsion to have the main function in python.
1.1 Setting up Python
If someone needs to go through the Python installation on Windows, please watch this link. You can download the python from this link.
2. Python main function Example
I am using JetBrains PyCharm as my preferred IDE. You are free to choose the IDE of their choice.
2.1 Main function
To understand the main function we can use the following code snippet.
Main function
01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 | # python main function# defining the main functiondef main(): print("Hello, python programming.")# declaring the call function# this will call the main function and print the console log.if __name__ == '__main__': main()print("Good morning") |
If everything goes well the following output will be shown in the IDE console.
1 2 | Hello, python programming.Good morning |
2.2 Calling other functions from the Main function
To understand the calling of other functions from the main function we can use the following code snippet.
Calling other functions from the Main function
01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 | # python main functionprint("Calling other functions from the main() function\n")def split(data): return str.split(data)def companies(): print("Getting the companies data") company = "ABC is the best company" print("Companies data is returned") return companydef main(): data = companies() print(data) print("\n") newdata = split(data) print(newdata)if __name__ == "__main__": main()print("\nDone") |
If everything goes well the following output will be shown in the IDE console.
01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 | Calling other functions from the main() functionGetting the companies dataCompanies data is returnedABC is the best company['ABC', 'is', 'the', 'best', 'company']Done |
2.3 Main function as Python module
Let us understand this with the help of the following code snippet.
Main function as Python module
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 | # considering code as an imported module# here the AddValues.py is imported as a moduleimport AddValues# calling the add(a, b) function written in the AddValues.pyAddValues.main(5, 5)print("\nDone") |
If everything goes well the following output will be shown in the IDE console.
1 2 3 | The sum of a and b is = 10Done |
That is all for this tutorial and I hope the article served you with whatever you were looking for. Happy Learning and do not forget to share!
3. Summary
In this tutorial, we learned about the
- main function introduction in python programming
- Practical examples of using
mainfunction in python programming
You can download the sample class from the Downloads section.
4. Download the Project
This was an example of a main function in python programming.
You can download the full source code of this example here: Python main function Example
