Python File Write
We shall study Python file write using examples, in the hopes that it will help us achieve our educational objectives.
Write to an Existing File
When we talk about Python file write then, to write to an existing file, you must add a parameter to the open() function:
"a" – Append – will append to the end of the file
"w" – Write – will overwrite any existing content
Open the file “demofile2.txt” and append content to the file:
Example
Open the file “demofile3.txt” and overwrite the content:
Example
Note: the “w” method will overwrite the entire file.
Create a New File
To create a new file in Python, use the open() method, with one of the following parameters when it comes to Python file write:
"x" – Create – will create a file, returns
an error if the file exist
"a" – Append – will create a file if the
specified file does not exist
"w" – Write – will create a file if the
specified file does not exist
Create a file called “myfile.txt”:
Example
Result: a new empty file is created!
Create a new file if it does not exist:
Example
Python File Write Uses
Here are some common uses of file write operations in Python:
- You can use file write operations to create new files. By opening a file in write mode (
'w'), you can write data to the file, and if the file doesn’t exist, it will be created. This is useful when you want to generate new files with specific content or format. - When you open a file in write mode (
'w'), any existing content in the file is overwritten. This allows you to replace the entire content of a file with new data. You can use this approach when you need to update or reset the content of a file. - By opening a file in append mode (
'a'), you can add new data to the end of an existing file without overwriting its current content. This is useful when you want to continuously add new data to an ongoing file, such as log files or data collection. - File write operations are commonly used to write text data to files. You can write strings or formatted text to files by using the
write()method of the file object. This is useful for generating reports, saving program output, or storing textual data. - File write operations also support writing binary data to files. By opening a file in binary write mode (
'wb'), you can write binary data, such as images, audio files, or serialized objects, to the file. This is useful for working with non-textual data or when preserving the exact binary representation of data.
