Question

I swear I have seen this done before but can not find it now. Is it possible to have a shell script start a python interpeter “mid stream”, ie:

#!/bin/bash
#shell stuff..

set +e

VAR=aabb

for i in a b c; do
    echo $i
done

# same file!

#!/usr/bin/env python
# python would be given this fd which has been seek'd to this point

import sys

print ("xyzzy")

sys.exit(0)

Answer 1

You can use this shell syntax (it is called here document in Unix literature):

#!/bin/sh
echo this is a shell script

python <<@@
print 'hello from Python!'
@@

The marker after ‘<<‘ operator can by an arbitrary identifier, people often use something like EOF (end of file) or EOD (end of document). If the marker starts a line then the shell interprets it as end of input for the program.