Reading Files in Python

To read a file in Python, you use the open() function with the "r" mode. Python provides several methods for reading files, including read(), readline(), and readlines().

Reading the Entire File:

The read() method reads the entire file into a single string:

Python 
file = open("example.txt", "r")
content = file.read()
print(content)
file.close()

Reading Line by Line:

The readline() method reads one line at a time:

Python 
file = open("example.txt", "r")
line = file.readline()
while line:
    print(line, end="")  # "end" avoids adding extra newline
    line = file.readline()
file.close()

Reading All Lines into a List:

The readlines() method reads all the lines of a file into a list:

Python 
file = open("example.txt", "r")
lines = file.readlines()
for line in lines:
    print(line, end="")
file.close()

Using the with Statement:

It's a good practice to use the with statement when working with files, as it automatically closes the file after the block is executed:

Python 
with open("example.txt", "r") as file:
    content = file.read()
    print(content)
# No need to call file.close()

Reading files is a common task in Python, whether you"re working with text data, logs, or configurations.

Import Links

Here are some useful import links for further reading: