When creating a virtual environment, I run:
python3 -m venv env
I understand that -m executes a module (venv in this case). However, what does the -m flag actually stand for?
Is it -m for module, or -m for __main__?
I couldn't find an unambiguous explanation. Here are some resources I investigated:
in
section 1.1.1
It clearly says -m is the module name, here.
Quoting from the docs :
"since the argument is a module name, you must not give a file extension (.py). The module-name should be a valid Python module name"
Although -m is arbitrary as in the backend It is an argparser doing all the work.
When called with -m module-name, the given module is located on the Python module path and executed as a script
Package names are also permitted. When a package name is supplied instead of a normal module, the interpreter will execute <pkg>.__main__ And I guess the main also starting with 'm' is a coincidence.
It runs the module following -m. See the official documentation
The documentation says -m <module-name>, as well as "Since the argument is a module name...", so it makes sense to assume that "m" stands for module.