For example: with open('myfile.txt', mode = 'r') as my_file: It returns the entire content as a list, where each element corresponds to a line. Notice that the readline() function can take an integer argument for returning a specific number of characters of the first line. with open('myfile.txt', mode = 'r') as my_file: For example, let’s return the first 10 characters. It returns the entire contents of the file as a string that will contain all the characters. You can also pass in an integer to return only the specified number of characters in the file. The three methods for reading files in Python with the open function are: read() Let’s code! with open('myfile.txt', mode = 'r') as my_file:Īnd this is the fith and final line The Three Methods for Reading Files The main difference is that it closes the connection automatically, and this is very helpful for file and handling. We can read the file using the “open” function as follows: # open the file with the mode r which means 'read'Īlternatively, we can use the “with open” function. It opens a file to append and read both in binary format.įor this tutorial, we have created a simple txt file called myfile.txt with the following content: This is the first line It opens the file in the append mode in binary format. It creates a new file if no file exists with the same name. It opens the file to write and read both in binary format It opens the file to write and read data. It overwrites the file if it exists previously or creates a new one if no file exists. It opens the file to write only in binary format. It overwrites the file if previously exists or creates a new one if no file exists with the same name. The file pointer exists at the beginning of the file. It opens the file to read and write both in binary format.

The file pointer exists at the beginning. It opens the file to read and write both. It opens the file to read-only in binary format.

It opens an existing file to read-only mode. Below, we represent the description of the modes. The mode indicates what action is required like reading, writing or creating and it also defines the format like text or binary. In this tutorial, we will work with the “open” built-in function that takes two arguments, such as the file name and the mode. Most Data Scientists use Pandas for reading files, provided that the data are structured.

Python open txt write