Advanced Python File Handling Tutorial 📁

Python provides powerful tools for file operations beyond basic reading/writing. Here's a guide to advanced techniques:

1. Binary Mode Operations 🧾

Use 'rb'/'wb' for binary files:

with open('data.bin', 'rb') as f:
    content = f.read()

2. Context Manager Best Practices 🧰

Always use with statements for automatic resource management:

with open('file.txt', 'r') as f:
    data = f.read()

3. File Locking Mechanisms 🔒

Implement locks to prevent concurrent writes:

import fcntl
with open('shared_data.txt', 'r+') as f:
    fcntl.flock(f, fcntl.LOCK_EX)
    # Write operations

4. Handling Large Files Efficiently 📈

Process files in chunks:

CHUNK_SIZE = 1024 * 1024
with open('large_file.txt', 'rb') as f:
    while chunk := f.read(CHUNK_SIZE):
        process(chunk)

5. Custom File Objects 🛠️

Create custom file-like classes:

class CustomFile:
    def __init__(self, filename):
        self.file = open(filename, 'r')
    
    def read(self):
        return self.file.read()
    
    def close(self):
        self.file.close()

For more basics, check our Python File Handling Introduction tutorial. 📚