SMRTR ProgrammingFeb 4, 2026lobste.rs

What arguments was Python called with?

SMRTR summary

A developer removed a complex Python hack from Werkzeug's reloader after Python 3.9 reached end-of-life. The original code solved a tricky problem: detecting whether Python was run with `python -m module` versus `python file.py` to avoid import conflicts. The elaborate workaround involved checking `__main__.__package__` and handling various edge cases, but Python 3.10's new `sys.orig_argv` replaced all that complexity with a single line.

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