How to execute Python inline from a bash shell

Question

Is there a Python argument to execute code from the shell without starting up an interactive interpreter or reading from a file? Something similar to:

perl -e 'print "Hi"'

-c is the second option described in the man page.

chepner
– chepner

2013-06-04 13:16:14 +00:00
Commented Jun 4, 2013 at 13:16 — chepner
– chepner, Commented Jun 4, 2013 at 13:16

ginjaemocoes · Accepted Answer · 2020-11-18 19:36:54Z

230

This works:

python -c 'print("Hi")'
Hi

From the manual, man python:

   -c command
          Specify  the command to execute (see next section).  This termi-
          nates the option list (following options are passed as arguments
          to the command).

edited Nov 18, 2020 at 19:36

ginjaemocoes

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answered Jun 4, 2013 at 1:07

Mike Müller

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5 Comments

beldaz Over a year ago

Also useful to remember that you can use ; to separate statements, e.g., python -c 'import foo; foo.bar()'

do-me Over a year ago

Doesn't work for me on python 3.8.Traceback (most recent call last): File "<string>", line 1, in <module> NameError: name 'Hi' is not defined

Mike Müller Over a year ago

Make sure "Hi" is in quotes.

Mickey Donald Over a year ago

Also how do I access a variable in the command

Mike Müller Over a year ago

You can turn on interactive mode with -i: python -i -c 'a = 5' >>> a 5

awltux · Accepted Answer · 2019-11-13 09:12:19Z

42

A 'heredoc' can be used to directly feed a script into the python interpreter:

python <<HEREDOC
import sys
for p in sys.path:
  print(p)
HEREDOC


/usr/lib64/python36.zip
/usr/lib64/python3.6
/usr/lib64/python3.6/lib-dynload
/home/username/.local/lib/python3.6/site-packages
/usr/local/lib/python3.6/site-packages
/usr/lib64/python3.6/site-packages
/usr/lib/python3.6/site-packages

answered Nov 13, 2019 at 9:12

awltux

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2 Comments

ysap Over a year ago

How can redirect the output into a text file (under bash)? I am trying to add "> temp.txt" after the command and also to use a pipe and other ideas, but the file is zero length.

ysap Over a year ago

OK, figured that out. You need to add the "> temp.txt" after the first HEREDOC on the first line in your example., i.e., do: "$ python <<HEREDOC > temp.txt"

Nam G VU · Accepted Answer · 2019-04-05 06:29:43Z

39

Another way is to you use bash redirection:

python <<< 'print "Hi"'

And this works also with perl, ruby, and what not.

p.s.

To save quote ' and " for python code, we can build the block with EOF

c=`cat <<EOF
print(122)
EOF`
python -c "$c"

edited Apr 5, 2019 at 6:29

Nam G VU

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answered Jun 5, 2013 at 10:53

michaelmeyer

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Comments

John La Rooy · Accepted Answer · 2013-06-04 01:24:33Z

1

Another way is to use the e module

eg.

$ python -me 1 + 1
2

answered Jun 4, 2013 at 1:24

John La Rooy

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2 Comments

Mike Müller Over a year ago

Interesting. But you need to have an extra install.

Jay Taylor Over a year ago

Useless unless you've already run pip install e. For a standard python install, this produces the error: No module named e.

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