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When the U modifier is used while opening a file then Python opens the file in Universal Newline mode. This mode enables Python to automatically detect and handle all common newline characters including , \r and \r during file reading. It is particularly useful when working with text files generated on various operating systems such as Windows, macOS or Linux which use different newline conventions. The U mode was used in Python 2 and early Python 3 versions to enable newline normalization. It allowed consistent handling of line endings regardless of the platform on which the file was created. However, ... Read More
In most of the applications, especially in data processing, software development or testing, it is required to compare two files to detect changes, validate outputs or find discrepancies. Python offers several ways to compare files which ranges from basic line-by-line comparisons to more advanced diff utilities. Following are the key methods which are used to compare two files in python - Line-by-line comparison: This is a straightforward approach to textual differences. difflib module: This module is used to produce human-readable diffs similar to Unix’s diff command. filecmp module: This module is used for quick binary or shallow comparisons. ... Read More
A directory is simply defined as a collection of subdirectories and single files or either one of them. A directory hierarchy is constructed by organizing all the files and subdirectories within a main directory and this is also known as root directory. These subdirectories are separated using a / operator in a directory hierarchy. In python, we have different methods to scan through a directory recursively. In this article we are going to see about each method. Using os.walk() method Using glob.glob() method Using os.listdir() method ... Read More
In Python, sharing common data such as constants, configuration settings or shared resources among multiple files is a routine task in modular application development. The data will be centralized in a dedicated module which allows it to be maintained in one place and imported wherever needed. Before proceeding with various approaches to share data among multiple Python files, first we need to understand what is a module and what is shared data. What is a Module? A Module is a Python file (.py) that contains definitions such as variables, functions, classes or runnable code. By placing shared data in its ... Read More
When we use the b modifier while opening a file, then the file is opened in binary mode. Any file whose format doesn't consist of readable characters is referred to as a "binary" file. Binary files include audio files like MP3s, text formats such as Word or PDF, and image files such as JPEGs or GIFs. Normally, the files are automatically opened in text mode in Python. When choosing a mode, include the letter "b" for binary mode. By default, the open() function opens a file in text format. As a result, the "wb" mode opens the file in binary format ... Read More
Monitoring file access times is a common requirement for auditing, data management and cleanup of the scripts. Python provides multiple ways to retrieve the last access time of a file using the os and pathlib modules. Using os.path.getatime() Method In Python, we can use the os.path.getatime() method to retrieve a path's most recent access time. The path that we need to verify for the access time is taken as the input argument by os.path.getatime() method. This method returns the amount of time since the epoch, as a floating point value. It throws one OSError if the requested path cannot be ... Read More
When working with the Python scripts, it is required to interact with user-specific files or directories and also it's essential to accurately determine the actual user's home directory. This is especially important if the script might be executed with elevated privileges like using sudo where default methods could mistakenly point to /root directory instead of the true user's home. Python offers multiple ways to retrieve the home directory and selecting the appropriate method which helps to ensure consistent and expected behavior across different environments and permission levels. In this articlE, we will go through the different methods to find the ... Read More
The Python shutil module provides a number of functions for high-level operations on individual files and file collections. In this article, we will go through different methods of moving a file from one folder to another using Python. Using the OS Module The Python OS module gives users the ability to create interactions with their operating systems. Using shutil.move() method Following is an example which shows how to move a file from one folder to another using shutil.move() method - # importing the modules import shutil import os # Providing the folder path origin = 'C:\Users\Lenovo\Downloads\Works' target = 'C:\Users\Lenovo\Downloads\Work ... Read More
Swap files and temporary files are common byproducts of text editors such as Vim, Emacs or even modern IDEs. These files—often with extensions like .swp, .swo, .tmp or .bak are used to store session data or backup content temporarily. These are useful during editing sessions in which they can clutter our project directories or interfere with version control systems if not cleaned up. In this article, we are going to explore how we can leverage Python to automatically find and delete these unwanted swap files from our workspace. Using os.walk() for Recursive Deletion In this approach we use Python's os.walk() ... Read More
Creating an empty file is a common task in programming when we are initializing log files, setting up placeholders or working with automation scripts. Python provides several easy and flexible methods to create empty files. In this article, we'll go through different ways to create an empty file in Python. Using open() with Write Mode 'w' The open() function is the most straightforward way to create an empty file. When we use the write mode 'w', then it creates a new file if it doesn't exist. Example Following is an example, which shows how to create an empty file using ... Read More