Difference between inspect and interactive command line flags in Python

In Python, you may often come across situations where you need to explore or interact with code dynamically. The Python standard library provides two useful command-line flags, -i (interactive) and -m (inspect), to assist in such scenarios. This tutorial will explain the difference between these two flags and provide code examples to illustrate their usage.
The -i flag is used to launch an interactive Python session after running a script or a module. This interactive session allows you to explore and manipulate objects created in the script. It's useful for debugging, experimenting, and interacting with your code in real-time.
To use the -i flag, you simply append it to your Python command when running a script or module:
Here's a code example to demonstrate the use of the -i flag:
Run the script with the -i flag:
You'll see the output:
After the script has run, you are now in an interactive Python session where you can access and manipulate the variables defined in the script. For example, you can interact with the x variable by typing x and getting its value:
You can also modify the value of x or perform other interactive operations.
The -m flag is used to run the module as a script and execute its __main__ block. This flag is handy when you want to use a module as a script, and it allows you to use the if __name__ == "__main__": block within a module to define code that should be executed when the module is run directly. The -m flag doesn't launch an interactive session; it simply executes the module.
To use the -m flag, you run a module as follows:
Here's a code example to illustrate the use of the -m flag:
Run the module with the -m flag:
The output will be:
The -m flag runs the code within the if __name__ == "__main__": block, allowing you to use a module both as a script and as a library.
In summary, the -i flag is used for launching an interactive session after running a script, allowing you to explore and interact with the code and objects defined in the script. On the other hand, the -m flag is used to execute a module as a script, running the code inside the if __name__ == "__main__": block, without launching an interactive session. Both flags have their specific use cases and can be valuable tools for Python developers.
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