


How does Python handle file I/O operations, and what are best practices for reading and writing files?
Jun 08, 2025 am 12:17 AMUsing Python for file I/O operations is very direct. The core is to open, process and close the file, and the with open() statement can automatically complete the closing. 1. with open() is the recommended method, which automatically manages file closing; 2. Common modes include 'r' read, 'w' write (overwrite), 'a' append, 'r' read and write; 3. The reading methods include file.read() one-time reading, file.readlines() reads by line, and for line in file line-by-line processing; 4. Structured data can be simplified by csv or json modules; 5. Write using 'w' or 'a' mode to match .write() or .writelines(), pay attention to manually adding newlines; 6. Use 'rb' or 'wb' mode to process binary data.
Python makes file I/O operations pretty straightforward, and once you get the hang of it, it's not too bad. The core idea is that you open a file, do what you need (read, write, append), then close it — though in practice, there are ways to handle this more cleanly.
Using with open()
Is Your Best Bet
One of the most common and recommended ways to work with files is using the with open()
statement. It automatically takes care of closing the file for you, even if something goes wrong while processing it.
For example:
with open('data.txt', 'r') as file: content = file.read()
Here, 'r'
means read mode. Other common modes include 'w'
for write (which overwrites existing content), 'a'
for append, and 'r '
for reading and writing.
Some things to keep in mind:
- Always double-check the file path.
- If you use
'w'
, be careful — it will wipe out the file if it already exists. - You can read line by line using
.readline()
or loop directly through the file object.
Different Ways to Read Files
There are a few different approaches depending on what you want to do:
-
file.read()
gives you the whole file as one string. -
file.readlines()
gives you a list where each item is a line from the file. - Looping like
for line in file:
is memory-efficient and great for big files.
If you're dealing with structured data like CSV or JSON, it's usually better to use built-in modules like csv
or json
. For instance:
import json with open('config.json', 'r') as file: settings = json.load(file)
This way, you don't have to manually parse everything yourself.
Writing and Appending Made Simple
Writing to a file isn't much harder than reading. Just switch the mode to 'w'
or 'a'
, and use .write()
.
A quick example:
with open('output.txt', 'w') as file: file.write("Hello, world!\n")
A few tips when writing:
- Use
\n
to add newlines manually. - When appending with
'a'
, you won't lose existing data. - If you're writing multiple lines, consider using
.writelines()
with a list of strings.
Also, remember that text mode is the default — if you're working with images or binary data, use 'wb'
or 'rb'
instead.
Basically that's it.
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