Python File Handling - Official Documentation 💻

Python provides robust tools for file handling, enabling developers to interact with files on the filesystem. Below is a concise guide to core concepts and practices:

📁 Basic Operations

• Opening Files: Use open() with modes like r (read), w (write), or a (append).
  Example: file = open("example.txt", "r")

  

• Reading Data:

  • file.read() - Read entire content
  • file.readlines() - Read line by line
  • file.readable() - Check readability
  

• Writing Data:

  • file.write() - Write to file
  • file.writelines() - Write multiple lines
  • file.writable() - Check writability
  

• Closing Files: Always use file.close() or context managers (with statement) to prevent resource leaks.

  

🔐 Advanced Features

• File Modes:

  Mode	Description
  r	Read (default)
  w	Write (creates new file or truncates existing)
  a	Append
  b	Binary mode
  +	Read/write

• Encoding Handling: Specify encoding (e.g., encoding='utf-8') to avoid character corruption.

• Error Handling: Use try-except blocks to manage exceptions like FileNotFoundError.

✅ Best Practices

1. Always use context managers:

   with open("data.txt", "r") as f:
       content = f.read()
   

2. Avoid hardcoding file paths; use relative paths or environment variables.
3. Check file existence before operations using os.path.exists().

For deeper exploration, check our Python File Handling Tutorial or official documentation for comprehensive examples.