Data Science Essentials in Python

Unit 8

Working with Files

A file is a non-volatile container for long-term data storage. A typical file operation involves opening a file, reading data from the file or writing data into the file, and closing the file. You can open a file for reading (default mode, denoted as "r"), [over]writing ("w"), or appending ("a"). Opening a file for writing destroys the original content of the file without notice, and opening a non-existing file for reading causes an exception:

f = open(name, mode="r")
read the file
f.close()

Python provides an efficient replacement to this paradigm: the with statement allows us to open a file explicitly, but it lets Python close the file automatically after exiting, thus saving us from tracking the unwanted open ...