Opening a file using python

Opening a file refers to getting the file ready either for reading or for writing. This can be done using the open function. This function returns a file object and takes two arguments, one that accepts the file name and another that accepts the mode Access Mode. Note: The file should exist in the same directory as the Python script, otherwise, full address of the file should be written. The below table gives the list of all access mode available in python: Operation Syntax Description Read Only r Open text file for reading only.

Write Only w Open the file for writing. All additions are made at the end of the file and no existing data can be modified. Example 1: In this example, we will be opening a file to read-only. The initial file looks like below: Code:. Report Error. Your message has been sent to W3Schools. W3Schools is optimized for learning and training. Examples might be simplified to improve reading and learning.

Note: We have not closed the files after using this time. It is because we do not need to, the with statement ensures that the opened files are closed automatically by calling the close method. Hope you had a clear understanding. For any further related questions feel free to use the comments below.

File Contents. But a closure look will show you that when the exception occurred, control moved to the except block and then to the finally block. In the finally block, we check if the file is closed or not. Guess what! When code gets bigger, then there are high chances of skipping the close somewhere.

When with the block ends, it will automatically close the file. So, it reduces the number of lines of code and reduces the chances of bug. Check out this example, File will be closed before handling the exception try: using "with statement" with open function with open 'sample.

Then file will be closed before control moves to the except block.