Welcome to the Treehouse Community
Want to collaborate on code errors? Have bugs you need feedback on? Looking for an extra set of eyes on your latest project? Get support with fellow developers, designers, and programmers of all backgrounds and skill levels here with the Treehouse Community! While you're at it, check out some resources Treehouse students have shared here.
Looking to learn something new?
Treehouse offers a seven day free trial for new students. Get access to thousands of hours of content and join thousands of Treehouse students and alumni in the community today.
Start your free trial
Yoon Choi
1,649 PointsWhy don't you have an explanation for dunder name and dunder main?
Can we have a discussion on what name and main is?
1 Answer
Chris Freeman
Treehouse Moderator 68,423 PointsGood question! As answered here and here,
This is a common python idiom to detect if a module is imported or being executed directly.
When a python module is imported into another module, its __name__ attribute is set to be the same as the module name. When a python module is executed, the top level module attribute __name__ is changed to be "__main__". This way a module can tell the difference between if it is being imported or executed.
The python idiom
if __name__ == "__main__":
main()
says, "if my __name__ attribute has been changed to the string "__main__", then execute the function main(). The "pass" would be replaced with the code to be executed.
Post back if you have more questions. Good luck!!