How to Solve the Issue - Python Program Closes Immediately

Manav Narula Feb 02, 2024
  1. Use the input() Function to Stop the Python Program From Closing Immediately
  2. Use the -i Flag to Stop the Python Program From Closing Immediately
  3. Use the python Command to Stop the Python Program From Closing Immediately
  4. Use the time.delay() Function to Stop the Python Program From Closing Immediately
How to Solve the Issue - Python Program Closes Immediately

Python scripts can be created and edited using many different editors. We can use different IDLEs or the command prompt to run these scripts.

Sometimes a Python program immediately closes when we run it, which can happen for several reasons.

If a Python program closes immediately, we can use the following ways to solve the problem.

Use the input() Function to Stop the Python Program From Closing Immediately

The input() function is used to read some input from the user. We can add this prompt to the end of the program to stop it from closing immediately.

This will ensure the prompt to get some user input when the end of the program is reached. We can give any input; it does not matter and press Enter because we won’t process the input anywhere in the code.

In Python 2, we have to use the raw_input() method to get the user’s input.

Use the -i Flag to Stop the Python Program From Closing Immediately

The -i flag is used to set the inspect flag to True when used in the command prompt. This prevents the program from exiting on SystemExit, so it can solve a Python program from closing immediately.

When the program is finished, this option says to switch to interactive mode.

Use the python Command to Stop the Python Program From Closing Immediately

We can run Python scripts from the command prompt. The mentioned problem is common when we ask the cmd to run the script as the cmd window closes when the program terminates.

If this is indeed the reason for the program closing, we can run the script differently. We can go to the script’s directory and run it using the python command.

For example:

cd C:\User\ScriptDir
python script_name.py

The cd command can navigate to the required directory.

Use the time.delay() Function to Stop the Python Program From Closing Immediately

The time module provides different functions to work with time values. We can add a required-second delay using the time.sleep() function.

If a program is closing immediately, we can add this function at the end to give a little delay to observe the output properly.

For example:

import time

time.sleep(20)

The above code will add a delay of 20 seconds. Alternatively, we can add empty for loops that do nothing to create such delays.

Author: Manav Narula
Manav Narula avatar Manav Narula avatar

Manav is a IT Professional who has a lot of experience as a core developer in many live projects. He is an avid learner who enjoys learning new things and sharing his findings whenever possible.

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