Why is Python running my module when I import it, and how do I stop it?

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Because this is just how Python works – keywords such as class and def are not declarations. Instead, they are real live statements which are executed. If they were not executed your module would be empty.

The idiomatic approach is:

# stuff to run always here such as class/def
def main():
    pass

if __name__ == "__main__":
   # stuff only to run when not called via 'import' here
   main()

It does require source control over the module being imported, however.

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