How to get a function name as a string?

Question

In Python, how do I get a function name as a string, without calling the function?

def my_function():     pass  print get_function_name_as_string(my_function) # my_function is not in quotes 

should output "my_function".

Is such function available in Python? If not, any ideas on how to implement get_function_name_as_string, in Python?

Answer 1

my_function.__name__ 

Using __name__ is the preferred method as it applies uniformly. Unlike func_name, it works on built-in functions as well:

>>> import time >>> time.time.func_name Traceback (most recent call last):   File "<stdin>", line 1, in ? AttributeError: 'builtin_function_or_method' object has no attribute 'func_name' >>> time.time.__name__  'time' 

Also the double underscores indicate to the reader this is a special attribute. As a bonus, classes and modules have a __name__ attribute too, so you only have remember one special name.