Sometimes I see relatively small application, generally task scripts, written as essentially a list of statements. Other times, I see them neatly divided into functions and then the "if __name__ == '__main__':" convention. Is there a preference? Is there an... application scope such that the preference shifts from the former to the latter? I understand the use of the __name__ == 'main' convention for building unit tests, but I'm mixed on using it in scripts/small applications.
This may circle around to the "is Python a scripting language" bruhaha a while back. I tend to skip the __name__ == '__main__' in what I'd consider scripts (one-file hacks to solve an immediate problem, often disposable or one-use wonders). However for non-scripts (which I'd define as code that has more than one source-code file I've written or that I'd have to maintain) and for modules, I tend to put in the __name__ guard.
-tkc -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
