Python: Running a program - Should be simple

[Saladsamurai]

Hello

As strange thing is happening. I have created a simple file using emacs (on a Mac) that contains the following:

def main():

    print "hello!"

if __name__ == "__main__":
    main()

And I have saved it in the working directory as hello.py

In a terminal window, if I type

python hello.py

it works great. Now I set the execute bit using

chmod +x hello.py

and when I try to run it using ./hello.py I get syntax errors?!

Python_Projects saladsamurai$ ./hello.py
./hello.py: line 1: syntax error near unexpected token `('
./hello.py: line 1: `def main():'

Any ideas on this? Thanks!

 

[Borek]

Perhaps without #!/usr/bin/python it is treated as a bash script? Just guessing.

 

[Saladsamurai]

Perhaps without #!/usr/bin/python it is treated as a bash script? Just guessing.

Borek! Thanks! That what exactly it! I am not too good at terminal or Python. I saw the #!/usr/bin/python in the example file and I thought it was a comment

 

[Hurkyl]

Borek! Thanks! That what exactly it! I am not too good at terminal or Python. I saw the #!/usr/bin/python in the example file and I thought it was a comment

It is a python comment. I think it would even be a shell script comment if it were anywhere but the first line.

But your shell treats the first line specially if it starts with #!, and interprets it as a path to something to execute to interpret the script.

This is why scripting languages all use # to start comments: so that this convention your shell uses can be used without confusing your scripting language.

 

[LudusRex]

I would first check the syntax of the code in the hello.py file to ensure that there are no errors. It is possible that the syntax errors are causing the issue when trying to run the program with the execute bit set.

Additionally, I would check the version of Python being used in the terminal window and make sure it is the same as the one used when running the program with the "python" command. It is possible that there are multiple versions of Python installed on the computer and they may have different syntax requirements.

Another possibility is that the execute bit is not set correctly. I would double check that the command "chmod +x hello.py" was successful and that the correct permissions are set for the file.

If none of these solutions work, I would suggest seeking assistance from a more experienced programmer or posting the issue on a forum or community for Python users to get more specific help with the problem.