.pyw files in python program
Question:
I am new to Python programming. Can anybody provide an explanation on what a *.pyw file is and how it works.
Answers:
Python scripts (files with the extension .py) will be executed by
python.exe by default. This executable opens a terminal, which stays
open even if the program uses a GUI. If you do not want this to
happen, use the extension .pyw which will cause the script to be
executed by pythonw.exe by default (both executables are located in
the top-level of your Python installation directory). This suppresses
the terminal window on startup.
You can also make all .py scripts execute with pythonw.exe, setting
this through the usual facilities, for example (might require
administrative rights):
https://docs.python.org/2/using/windows.html
So in practice the only difference is that one leaves a console window hanging around and the other doesn’t. The most obvious usage for *.pyw are GUI apps since an app with an independent GUI obviously does not need or want the console window around.
There are some subtle implementation differences between python.exe and pythonw.exe see https://stackoverflow.com/a/30313091/3703989
The PYW file type is primarily associated with Python by Python Software Foundation. PYW files are used in Windows to indicate a script needs to be run using PYTHONW. EXE instead of PYTHON. EXE in order to prevent a DOS console from popping up to display the output.
Its just a file extension that tells python to run the script in the background.
I am new to Python programming. Can anybody provide an explanation on what a *.pyw file is and how it works.
Python scripts (files with the extension .py) will be executed by
python.exe by default. This executable opens a terminal, which stays
open even if the program uses a GUI. If you do not want this to
happen, use the extension .pyw which will cause the script to be
executed by pythonw.exe by default (both executables are located in
the top-level of your Python installation directory). This suppresses
the terminal window on startup.You can also make all .py scripts execute with pythonw.exe, setting
this through the usual facilities, for example (might require
administrative rights):
https://docs.python.org/2/using/windows.html
So in practice the only difference is that one leaves a console window hanging around and the other doesn’t. The most obvious usage for *.pyw are GUI apps since an app with an independent GUI obviously does not need or want the console window around.
There are some subtle implementation differences between python.exe and pythonw.exe see https://stackoverflow.com/a/30313091/3703989
The PYW file type is primarily associated with Python by Python Software Foundation. PYW files are used in Windows to indicate a script needs to be run using PYTHONW. EXE instead of PYTHON. EXE in order to prevent a DOS console from popping up to display the output.
Its just a file extension that tells python to run the script in the background.