Python File Methods – All Methods Explained

Python File Methods

Working with files is an essential part of programming in Python. Python provides several built-in methods to perform various operations on files, such as reading and writing data to and from files, closing files, manipulating file pointers, and more. Understanding these methods can help you work efficiently with files in Python.

Here is a table containing all the Python file methods:

Method Name Description
close() Closes the file
detach() Separates the underlying raw stream from the buffer and returns it
fileno() Returns the integer file descriptor that is used by the underlying implementation to request I/O operations from the operating system
flush() Flushes the write buffer of the file
isatty() Returns True if the file descriptor associated with a file is an interactive terminal or not.
read() Reads at most ‘size’ bytes from the file. If no argument is passed, it reads the entire file
readable() Returns True if the file is readable, else False
readline() Reads one entire line from the file. If size is specified, it reads at most ‘size’ bytes before it stops
readlines() Reads all lines from the file and returns them as a list of strings. If hint is specified, it reads at most ‘hint’ bytes from the file
seek() Changes the file position to the given ‘offset’. ‘whence’ is optional and defaults to 0 which means absolute file positioning, other values are 1 which means seek relative to the current position and 2 which means seek relative to the file’s end
seekable() Returns True if the file supports random access, else False
tell() Returns the current file position
truncate() Resizes the file to ‘size’ bytes. If ‘size’ is not specified, it resizes the file to the current position
write(s) Writes the string ‘s’ to the file
writable() Returns True if the file is writable, else False
writelines() Writes a list of strings ‘lines’ to the file

These file methods can be used to perform various operations on files. For example, you can use the open() method to open a file, use the read() method to read data from the file, use the write() method to write data to the file, and use the close() method to close the file.

It’s important to properly close files after you’re done working with them to ensure that any changes you made to the file are saved and to prevent any resource leaks. You can use the with statement to automatically close files after you’re done working with them:

with open('file.txt', 'r') as f:
    data = f.read()
    # do something with the data
# file is automatically closed when the with block is exited

Overall, Python provides a rich set of file methods that can help you work efficiently with files in your programs.

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