Executable Python Scripts

On BSD'ish Unix systems, Python scripts can be made directly executable, like shell scripts, by putting the line

#! /usr/bin/env python

(assuming that the interpreter is on the user's PATH) at the beginning of the script and giving the file an executable mode. The "#!" must be the first two characters of the file. On some platforms, this first line must end with a Unix-style line ending ("\n"), not a Mac OS ("\r") or Windows ("\r\n") line ending. Note that the hash, or pound, character, "#", is used to start a comment in Python.

The script can be given an executable mode, or permission, using the chmod command:

$ chmod +x myscript.py