conditional evaluation of source file in python

Question

Say I have a file that's only used in pre-production code

I want to ensure it gets not run in production code- any calls out to it have to fail.

This snippet at the top of the file doesn't work - it breaks the Python grammar, which specifies that return must take place in a function.

if not __debug__:
   return None

What is the best solution here - the one that doesn't involve making a gigantic else, that is. :-)

Answer 1

if not __debug__:
    raise RuntimeError('This module must not be run in production code.')