Python switch for syntax checking

[Jeff Duffy]

Hi all.

I've been wondering why python itself doesn't provide a switch to
check a file for valid syntax. I know that you can currently call

python -c "import py_compile; py_compile.comp ile(r'MyApp.py' )"

but in order to manage this effectively you have to add a shell alias,
write a script, mess about with your editor, or what have you. This
becomes yet another small annoyance I'd like to get rid of. I'm also
aware of PyChecker and other lint like tools, but these run the code and
often I don't want that.

Being able to do

python -s MyApp.py

and see any syntax errors would be a very useful thing. Is there a
specific reason that this doesn't exist (or perhaps it does and I'm
uninformed)? I don't see any relevant PEPs on the list, either.

Jeff Duffy

[Scott David Daniels]

Re: Python switch for syntax checking

Jeff Duffy wrote:[color=blue]
> I've been wondering why python itself doesn't provide a switch to check
> a file for valid syntax. I know that you can currently call
> python -c "import py_compile; py_compile.comp ile(r'MyApp.py' )"
> ...[/color]
I suspect the reason is threefold.

First, "python MyApp.py" does a syntax check anyway. If MyApp is
not a main program, all you get is the syntax check. As for main
programs, larger applications are often split into smaller files.
I seldom have large main program files to check.

Second, lots of extreme programmer (XP) practitioners hang out here,
and even more who have adopted at leasrt some of the XP techniques.
Those people tend to run unit tests rather than syntax checks.

Third, pychecker provides better analysis if you want static analysis.

I pretty much try to go the unit test way myself. While I would
suggest you try it out, the three reasons above are meant to explain
why nobody has put effort into a syntax check switch.

--Scott David Daniels
Scott.Daniels@A cm.Org

[Craig Ringer]

Re: Python switch for syntax checking

On Sat, 2004-11-20 at 02:46, Jeff Duffy wrote:[color=blue]
> Hi all.
>
> I've been wondering why python itself doesn't provide a switch to
> check a file for valid syntax. I know that you can currently call
>
> python -c "import py_compile; py_compile.comp ile(r'MyApp.py' )"
>
> but in order to manage this effectively you have to add a shell alias,
> write a script, mess about with your editor, or what have you. This
> becomes yet another small annoyance I'd like to get rid of. I'm also
> aware of PyChecker and other lint like tools, but these run the code and
> often I don't want that.[/color]

The talk of a new switch to import a module would do the job nicely. If
you just import your script as a module, you know it loads and the main
program runs. Just add the usual

if __name__ == '__main__':
main(sys.argv)

so your code loads as a module without executing its normal functions,
and you have your syntax check plus a bit of other sanity checking (all
modules import, etc).

In the mean time, it's fairly trivial to:

python -c "import myscript"

and not significantly longer / more complex than some sort of check
flag.

That said, I'm all in favour of unit tests to make sure your code
actually runs. Especially in Python, where things like late binding of
names means that you can't check at load time whether names exit, unit
tests are IMO the way to go.

pylint / pychecker may also be worth looking into.

--
Craig Ringer

[Ian Bicking]

Re: Python switch for syntax checking

Jeff Duffy wrote:[color=blue]
> Hi all.
>
> I've been wondering why python itself doesn't provide a switch to check
> a file for valid syntax. I know that you can currently call
>
> python -c "import py_compile; py_compile.comp ile(r'MyApp.py' )"[/color]

If you look at the py_compile module, if it's run as a script it will
compile any filenames you pass to it, so you should be able to do:

python /path/to/py_compile.py MyApp.py

And with Python 2.4 I think it will be:

python -m py_compile MyApp.py

--
Ian Bicking / ianb@colorstudy .com / http://blog.ianbicking.org

[Bengt Richter]

Re: Python switch for syntax checking

On Fri, 19 Nov 2004 12:08:00 -0800, Scott David Daniels <Scott.Daniels@ Acm.Org> wrote:
[color=blue]
>Jeff Duffy wrote:[color=green]
>> I've been wondering why python itself doesn't provide a switch to check
>> a file for valid syntax. I know that you can currently call
>> python -c "import py_compile; py_compile.comp ile(r'MyApp.py' )"
>> ...[/color]
>I suspect the reason is threefold.
>
>First, "python MyApp.py" does a syntax check anyway. If MyApp is
>not a main program, all you get is the syntax check. As for main[/color]
??? What does "not a main program mean"? I'm not sure what you mean, e.g.,

[14:00] C:\pywk\clp>pyt hon notmain.py
notmain.py executing

[14:00] C:\pywk\clp>pyt hon
Python 2.3.2 (#49, Oct 2 2003, 20:02:00) [MSC v.1200 32 bit (Intel)] on win32
Type "help", "copyright" , "credits" or "license" for more information.[color=blue][color=green][color=darkred]
>>> import notmain[/color][/color][/color]
notmain.py executing[color=blue][color=green][color=darkred]
>>> ^Z[/color][/color][/color]


[14:00] C:\pywk\clp>py2 4
Python 2.4b1 (#56, Nov 3 2004, 01:47:27)
[GCC 3.2.3 (mingw special 20030504-1)] on win32
Type "help", "copyright" , "credits" or "license" for more information.[color=blue][color=green][color=darkred]
>>> import notmain[/color][/color][/color]
notmain.py executing

Oops, forgot to show you what notmain.py was:
[color=blue][color=green][color=darkred]
>>> print '%s\n%s%s' % ('-'*40, open('notmain.p y').read(), '-'*40)[/color][/color][/color]
----------------------------------------
print 'notmain.py executing'

----------------------------------------
[color=blue]
>programs, larger applications are often split into smaller files.
>I seldom have large main program files to check.
>
>Second, lots of extreme programmer (XP) practitioners hang out here,
>and even more who have adopted at leasrt some of the XP techniques.
>Those people tend to run unit tests rather than syntax checks.
>
>Third, pychecker provides better analysis if you want static analysis.
>
>I pretty much try to go the unit test way myself. While I would
>suggest you try it out, the three reasons above are meant to explain
>why nobody has put effort into a syntax check switch.
>
>--Scott David Daniels
>Scott.Daniels@ Acm.Org
>[/color]

Regards,
Bengt Richter

[Jeff Shannon]

Re: Python switch for syntax checking

Bengt Richter wrote:
[color=blue]
>On Fri, 19 Nov 2004 12:08:00 -0800, Scott David Daniels <Scott.Daniels@ Acm.Org> wrote:
>
>
>[color=green]
>>First, "python MyApp.py" does a syntax check anyway. If MyApp is
>>not a main program, all you get is the syntax check. As for main
>>
>>[/color]
>??? What does "not a main program mean"? I'm not sure what you mean, e.g.,
>
>[/color]

I believe that Scott is referring to the difference between a file run
from the commandline, in which __name__ is set to "__main__", and a file
that's imported as a module, in which __name__ is set to the name of the
module, which is normally the filename minus the .py[c|o|d] extension.

Of course, this would also imply that Scott is presuming that one is
following the good programming practice of not putting any significant
code (other than function, class, and global variable definitions) at
module level, except where protected by an 'if __name__ == "__main__": '
statement. That *is* good practice, and most people do it, but it's not
required so perhaps not a safe presumption...

Jeff Shannon
Technician/Programmer
Credit International

[Scott David Daniels]

Re: Python switch for syntax checking

Jeff Duffy originally wrote:[color=blue]
> I've been wondering why python itself doesn't provide a switch to
> check a file for valid syntax....[/color]
[color=blue]
> Jeff Shannon wrote:
> Bengt Richter wrote:[color=green]
>> On Fri, 19 Nov 2004 12:08:00 -0800, Scott David Daniels
>> <Scott.Daniels@ Acm.Org> wrote:[color=darkred]
>>> First, "python MyApp.py" does a syntax check anyway. If MyApp is
>>> not a main program, all you get is the syntax check. As for main[/color]
>>
>> ??? What does "not a main program mean"? I'm not sure what you mean,[/color]
>
> I believe that Scott is referring to the difference between a file run
> from the commandline, in which __name__ is set to "__main__", and a file
> that's imported as a module, in which __name__ is set to the name of the
> module, which is normally the filename minus the .py[c|o|d] extension.
>[/color]
I do mean something like that. Essentially, I mean "if the file is
meant to be imported, rather than run."
[color=blue]
> Of course, this would also imply that Scott is presuming that one is
> following the good programming practice of not putting any significant
> code (other than function, class, and global variable definitions) at
> module level, except where protected by an 'if __name__ == "__main__": '
> statement. That *is* good practice, and most people do it, but it's not
> required so perhaps not a safe presumption...[/color]

Remember, I am explaining why we normally don't have a syntax-check-only
option, and my thesis is that there is no perceived need on the part of
the core implementers.

--Scott David Daniels
Scott.Daniels@A cm.Org