# The case of disappearing double dash

**URL:** <https://discourse.julialang.org/t/the-case-of-disappearing-double-dash/54126>\
**Category:** General Usage\
**Tags:** question\
**Created:** [January 28, 2021, 3:48pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/the-case-of-disappearing-double-dash/54126 "2021-01-28T15:48:20Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![matklad](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/matklad/32/17976_2.png) [@matklad](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/matklad)\
**Post date:** [January 28, 2021, 3:48pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/the-case-of-disappearing-double-dash/54126/1 "2021-01-28T15:48:20Z")

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I have the following julia script:

```julia
#!/usr/bin/env julia
println(ARGS)

```

Heres’s the output if I run it with an `--` argument:

```julia
18:41:14|~/tmp
λ ./main.jl -a --b -- c
["-a", "--b", "c"]

```

What happened to `--`?

Just in case, the Python version works as I’d expect

```julia
λ cat main.py
#!/usr/bin/env python3
import sys
print(sys.argv)

18:44:38|~/tmp
λ ./main.py -a --b -- c
['./main.py', '-a', '--b', '--', 'c']

```

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Jeff\_Emanuel](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/jeff_emanuel/32/15440_2.png) [@Jeff\_Emanuel](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Jeff_Emanuel)\
**Post date:** [January 28, 2021, 3:53pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/the-case-of-disappearing-double-dash/54126/2 "2021-01-28T15:53:22Z")

</div>

From [Getting Started · The Julia Language](https://docs.julialang.org/en/v1/manual/getting-started/)  
`The -- delimiter can be used to separate command-line arguments intended for the script file from arguments intended for Julia:`

If you add a leading --, then the next one appears

```julia
>julia echoargs.jl -- -a -b -- -c
["-a", "-b", "--", "-c"]

```

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![matklad](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/matklad/32/17976_2.png) [@matklad](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/matklad)\
**Post date:** [January 28, 2021, 4:27pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/the-case-of-disappearing-double-dash/54126/3 "2021-01-28T16:27:42Z")

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Aha, that’s the issue! I fixed it by using the following shebang: `#!/usr/bin/env -S julia --`
