Python File Handling: Essential File Handling Functions

Discover how to handle files in Python with the open() function. This guide explains file opening modes including Read, Append, Write, and Create, and their uses for managing files in your applications. Learn the basics of file handling to effectively create, read, update, and delete files in Python.

Python File Open

File handling is an essential part of any web application. Python provides several functions for creating, reading, updating, and deleting files.

File Handling

The key function for working with files in Python is the open() function. The open() function takes two parameters: filename and mode.

There are four different methods (modes) for opening a file:

• "r" - Read - Default value. Opens a file for reading, raises an error if the file does not exist.
• "a" - Append - Opens a file for appending, creates the file if it does not exist.
• "w" - Write - Opens a file for writing, creates the file if it does not exist.
• "x" - Create - Creates the specified file, raises an error if the file exists.

Additionally, you can specify if the file should be handled as binary or text mode:

• "t" - Text - Default value. Text mode.
• "b" - Binary - Binary mode (e.g., images).

Syntax

To open a file for reading, it is enough to specify the name of the file:

f = open("examplefile.txt")

The code above is equivalent to:

f = open("examplefile.txt", "rt")

Since "r" for read and "t" for text are the default values, you do not need to specify them.

Note: Make sure the file exists, or else you will get an error.