How to read only the first line of a file with Python?

In Python, file handling is a big topic spanning several scores of operations; one such operation is one of reading the first line of a file and this allows you to quickly access and retrieve specific information without reading the entire file. In this present article, we will examine several ways of executing the process of reading only the first line of a file using Python. You can follow the lucid and descriptive explanations and code examples below to understand and master the process of reading the first line of a file.

Using the readline() Method

To be able to read the first line of a file, you follow these steps:

• Step 1: You make use of the open() function to open the file in read mode.

• Step 2: You then assign the returned file object to a variable.

• Step 3: You also use the readline() method to read the first line of the file and keep it in a variable.

• Step 4: You next process the first line of the file (e.g., print it or perform other operations).

• Step 5: At last, you can close the file to ensure proper handling of system resources.

Here is the code snippet given below that showcases the process:

Example

Suppose we have a file name myfile.txt with following contents

#myfile.txt
This is a test file

# Open the file for reading
file = open('myfile.txt', 'r')

# Read the first line of the file
first_line = file.readline()

# Process the first line (e.g., print it)
print("First line:", first_line)

# Close the file
file.close()

When the above code is run, and when we open the myfile.txt this is the output that we see

Output

First line: This is a test file

Using a Loop to Read the First Line

In an alternate method, you can achieve the same purpose by using a loop to read the first line of a file. Even though this method is not so efficient, it still allows you to handle different situations where the first line may contain special characters or it may require additional processing.

Let us consider an example code snippet that is given below:

Example

Suppose we have a file name myfile.txt with following contents

#myfile.txt
This is a test file

# Open the file for reading
file = open('myfile.txt', 'r')

# Read the first line of the file using a loop
for line in file:
    first_line = line
    break

# Process the first line (e.g., print it)
print("First line:", first_line)

# Close the file
file.close()

When the above code is run, and when we open the myfile.txt this is the output that we see

Output

First line: This is a test file

Using Context Managers to Read the First Line

We have already learned that Python provides a method of conveniently reading files using context managers. This is how you can use a context manager to read the first line of a file:

• Step 1: You use the ‘with statement’ and the open() function to open the file in read mode.

• Step 2: Next assign the returned file object to a variable within the with block.

• Step 3: Use the readline() method to read the first line of the file and keep it in a variable.

• Step 4: Lastly, process the first line (e.g., print it or perform other operations).

Let us take a look at an example code snippet as is given below:

Example

Suppose we have a file name myfile.txt with following contents

#myfile.txt
This is a test file

# Open the file for reading using a context manager
with open('myfile.txt', 'r') as file:
    # Read the first line of the file
    first_line = file.readline()

    # Process the first line (e.g., print it)
    print("First line:", first_line)

When the above code is run, and when we open the myfile.txt this is the output that we see

Output

First line: This is a test file

Using the next() Function to Read the First Line

To be able to read the first line of a file, you have another method of doing so; you can also use the next() function in combination with the open() function. This approach makes it possible for you to directly access the first line without using a 'for loop'. Follow these steps:

• Step 1: Use the open() function to open the file in read mode.

• Step 2: Assign the returned file object to a variable.

• Step 3: Use the next() function with the file object as the argument to retrieve the first line.

• Step 4: Process the first line (e.g., print it or perform other operations).

• Step 5: At last, close the file to ensure proper handling of system resources.

Let us consider an example code snippet:

Example

Suppose we have a file name myfile.txt with following contents

#myfile.txt
This is a test file

# Open the file for reading
file = open('myfile.txt', 'r')

# Get the first line of the file using the next() function
first_line = next(file)

# Process the first line (e.g., print it)
print("First line:", first_line)

# Close the file
file.close()

When the above code is run, and when we open the myfile.txt this is the output that we see

Output

First line: This is a test file

Reading and Stripping the First Line

It is found sometimes that; the first line of a file may contain leading or trailing whitespace characters. To remove such whitespace characters, you make use of the strip() method. Let us look at an example code snippet:

Example

Here, we make use of the readline() method to read the first line of the file and immediately apply the strip() method to remove any leading or trailing whitespace characters. This makes it sure that the processed first line does not contain any unnecessary spaces.

Suppose we have a file name myfile.txt with following contents

#myfile.txt
This is a test file

# Open the file for reading
file = open('myfile.txt', 'r')
# Read the first line of the file
first_line = file.readline().strip()

# Process the first line (e.g., print it)
print("First line:", first_line)

# Close the file
file.close()

When the above code is run, and when we open the myfile.txt this is the output that we see

Output

First line: This is a test file

By now you must have figured out that the operation of reading only the first line of a file is a very routine and common operation in Python file handling. Here, in this article, we went through some examples that gave an illustration of how to read the first line of a file using different approaches. We also gave additional examples that made clear how to read the first line using the next() function and how to strip any leading or trailing whitespace characters from the first line. By following the clear and lucid explanations and code snippets, you must have gained a fair understanding of reading the first line of a file in Python. It is better we remember to close, without fail, the file after reading it, to ensure proper handling of system resources.