Should I put #! (shebang) in Python scripts, and what form should it take?

Question

Should I put the shebang in my Python scripts? In what form?

#!/usr/bin/env python 

or

Answer 1

Answer: Only if you plan to make it a command-line executable script.

Here is the procedure:

Start off by verifying the proper shebang string to use:

which python

Take the output from that and add it (with the shebang #!) in the first line.

On my system it responds like so:

$which python
/usr/bin/python

So your shebang will look like:

#!/usr/bin/python

After saving, it will still run as before since python will see that first line as a comment.

python filename.py

To make it a command, copy it to drop the .py extension.

cp filename.py filename

Tell the file system that this will be executable:

chmod +x filename

To test it, use:

./filename

Best practice is to move it somewhere in your $PATH so all you need to type is the filename itself.

sudo cp filename /usr/sbin

That way it will work everywhere (without the ./ before the filename)