The method of deleting files or directories in Python is as follows: 1. Use os.remove() to delete a single file, which is suitable for files and must ensure that the file exists; 2. Use os.rmdir() to delete empty directories, which is valid only if the directory is empty; 3. Use shutil.rmtree() to delete non-empty directories, which can delete directories and their contents, but be careful to operate; in addition, the path needs to be correct, it is recommended to add exception handling to improve security.
It is not difficult to delete files or directories in Python, but it should be noted that improper operation may lead to data loss or program errors. So the key is to choose the right method and figure out whether you want to delete a file or a folder.

Delete a single file: use os.remove()
If you just want to delete a file, the easiest way is to use the remove()
function in the os
module. This method is only applicable to files and cannot be used to delete folders.
How to use is very simple:

import os os.remove("example.txt")
This code will delete the example.txt
file in the current directory. If the file does not exist, an error will be reported. So if you are not sure whether the file exists, you can first judge:
if os.path.exists("example.txt"): os.remove("example.txt")
Delete empty directory: use os.rmdir()
If you want to delete an empty folder , you can use os.rmdir()
. This method only deletes empty directories, and any content inside will report an error.

For example:
os.rmdir("my_folder")
The prerequisite for executing this code is that the directory my_folder
must be empty. If it is not empty, OSError
exception will be thrown.
So if you want to delete a directory with content, you can't use this method.
Delete non-empty directories: use shutil.rmtree()
To delete a folder with content, including all files and subdirectories, you can use rmtree()
function of the shutil
module.
Example:
import shutil shutil.rmtree("my_folder")
This method is very powerful and dangerous. Once executed, the entire directory will be deleted in the root and there will be no prompt for confirmation, so be very careful when using it.
If you want to confirm whether the directory exists before deletion, you can also add a judgment:
if os.path.exists("my_folder"): shutil.rmtree("my_folder")
Notes and tips
- Path problem : Make sure that the path you pass to the function is correct, you can use
os.path.abspath()
to confirm the current path. - Permissions Issue : Some systems or directories may require administrator permissions to be deleted.
- Exception handling : It is recommended to add
try-except
block when deleting the operation to prevent the program from crashing.
try: os.remove("example.txt") except FileNotFoundError: print("File does not exist") except PermissionError: print("No permission to delete")
Basically that's it. Deleting files and directories is not complicated, but it is easy to ignore details such as paths, existence, and empty. As long as the method is used correctly, with some judgment and exception handling, the operation can be completed safely.
The above is the detailed content of How to delete a file or directory in Python. For more information, please follow other related articles on the PHP Chinese website!

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