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How to Extract Text from PDF Files in Python
Extract all readable text from a PDF file using PyPDF2, iterating over each page and concatenating the content.
import PyPDF2
def extract_text_from_pdf(pdf_path):
text = ""
with open(pdf_path, "rb") as file:
reader = PyPDF2.PdfReader(file)
for page in reader.pages:
text += page.extract_text() + "\n"
return text.strip()
if __name__ == "__main__":
pdf_path = "sample.pdf"
extracted…How to Fetch Weather Data from a Public API in Python
Fetches and parses weather data from a free public API using only the Python standard library.
import urllib.request
import json
def get_weather(city):
base_url = f"https://wttr.in/{city}?format=j1"
with urllib.request.urlopen(base_url) as response:
data = json.loads(response.read().decode())
current = data["current_condition"][0]
temp = current["temp_C"]
desc = current["weatherDesc…How to Filter CSV Rows by Column Value in Python
Filter CSV rows based on a column value condition using the standard csv module and a lambda function.
import csv
def filter_csv(input_file, output_file, column, condition):
with open(input_file, newline='', encoding='utf-8') as infile, \
open(output_file, 'w', newline='', encoding='utf-8') as outfile:
reader = csv.DictReader(infile)
fieldnames = reader.fieldnames
writer = csv.Dict…How to Filter Files by Extension and Size in Python
Use pathlib to list files in a directory, filter by extension or minimum size, and return matching names or (name, size) pairs.
from pathlib import Path
def filter_files_by_extension(directory: str, extension: str) -> list:
"""Return a list of file names in directory with the given extension."""
path = Path(directory)
return [f.name for f in path.iterdir() if f.is_file() and f.suffix == extension]
def filter_files_by_size(directo…How to Find Files by Extension in Python
This code walks a directory tree with pathlib, collects all file paths, and counts them by extension to summarize a project's contents.
from pathlib import Path
def get_project_files(base_path="."):
"""Return a sorted list of all file paths under base_path."""
base = Path(base_path)
files = [p for p in base.rglob("*") if p.is_file()]
return sorted(files)
def count_by_extension(files):
"""Return a dict mapping extension (lowercase…How to Find HTML Elements by Tag, Class, ID, CSS Selector, and Attribute in BeautifulSoup
Parse an HTML string with BeautifulSoup and demonstrate five distinct ways to locate elements: by tag name, by class, by ID, by CSS selector, and by attribute.
from bs4 import BeautifulSoup
html_content = """
<html><body>
<h1 id="title" class="heading">Hello World</h1>
<p class="content">First paragraph</p>
<p class="content special">Second paragraph</p>
<a href="https://example.com" class="link">Click here</a>
<div id="footer">
<p>© 2024</p>
…How to Group Files by Extension in Python
Group file names by their file extension using a dictionary and pathlib, producing a simple clear mapping for beginners.
from pathlib import Path
def group_data_by_extension(files: list[Path]) -> dict[str, list[str]]:
"""Group file names by their extension."""
grouped: dict[str, list[str]] = {}
for file in files:
ext = file.suffix.lower()
grouped.setdefault(ext, []).append(file.name)
return grouped
if…How to Handle Missing Values in a CSV Numeric Column in Python
Clean missing entries in a CSV numeric column by filling them with the mean, median, a custom value, or dropping rows.
import csv
from pathlib import Path
import statistics
def clean_csv_numeric(input_path: str, output_path: str, column: str, strategy: str = "mean") -> None:
"""
Handles missing values in a numeric column of a CSV file.
Strategies: 'mean', 'median', 'drop', or 'fill' with a specified value.
"""
row…How to List File Information in a Directory with Python
A helper that walks a directory and returns each file's name, size, and extension as a list of dictionaries.
from pathlib import Path
def get_files_data(directory: str) -> list[dict]:
"""Return basic info about all files in a directory."""
files = []
for path in Path(directory).iterdir():
if path.is_file():
files.append({
"name": path.name,
"size": path.stat()…How to List File Metadata in Python
This code walks a directory and returns a list of JSON-ready dicts with each file's name, size, and modification time.
from pathlib import Path
import json
def format_files_data(directory_path):
"""Return a list of JSON-serializable dicts with file metadata."""
base = Path(directory_path)
if not base.is_dir():
raise ValueError(f"Not a directory: {directory_path}")
files_data = []
for file_path in base.ite…How to List Files Matching a Glob Pattern in Python
Uses pathlib.Path.glob to find and sort all files matching a glob pattern like *.py in a directory.
from pathlib import Path
def list_files_matching(pattern: str, directory: str = ".") -> list[str]:
"""Return sorted list of file paths matching the glob pattern in a directory."""
return sorted(Path(directory).glob(pattern))
if __name__ == "__main__":
# Example: list all .py files in current directory
…How to List Tar Archive Contents in Python
Open a tar archive with the stdlib tarfile module and print each entry's type, size, and name.
import tarfile
from pathlib import Path
def list_tar_contents(archive_path):
"""List all entries in a tar archive."""
entries = []
with tarfile.open(archive_path, "r") as tar:
for member in tar.getmembers():
entry_type = "dir" if member.isdir() else "file"
entries.append(f"…How to Load a YAML Subset in Python Without PyYAML
Parse a flat, key-value YAML file with the Python standard library (re and pathlib), handling comments, quotes, and inline comments while skipping nested structures.
import re
from pathlib import Path
def load_yaml_subset(path):
"""Load a flat YAML file (key: value) without external dependencies."""
data = {}
with open(path, 'r', encoding='utf-8') as f:
for line in f:
# Skip empty lines and comments
line = line.strip()
if no…How to Load and Save JSON Files in Python
Load and save JSON files with pretty formatting using Python's standard library json module and pathlib.
import json
from pathlib import Path
def load_json(filepath: str) -> dict:
"""Load JSON data from a file."""
path = Path(filepath)
with path.open("r", encoding="utf-8") as f:
return json.load(f)
def save_json(filepath: str, data: dict) -> None:
"""Save data to a JSON file with pretty format…How to Merge Dicts from Two JSON Files Like a Pro
This helper reads two JSON files that contain dicts, merges them with the second file overriding duplicate keys, and saves the result to a new file.
import json
from pathlib import Path
def merge_json_files(file1: str, file2: str, output: str = "merged.json") -> dict:
"""Merge two JSON files containing dicts, with file2 overriding file1."""
data1 = json.loads(Path(file1).read_text())
data2 = json.loads(Path(file2).read_text())
merged = {**data1,…How to Merge Environment-Specific Config JSON in Python
Loads a base JSON config and overlays environment-specific overrides, merging the two dictionaries into one final config.
import json
import pathlib
def load_config(base_path: pathlib.Path, env: str) -> dict:
base_config = json.loads(base_path.read_text())
env_path = base_path.with_name(f"config.{env}.json")
if env_path.exists():
env_config = json.loads(env_path.read_text())
return {**base_config, **env_conf…How to Parse INI Config Files in Python with configparser
Load and read settings from an INI file using Python's built-in configparser module, with type-safe value access.
import configparser
from pathlib import Path
# Create a sample INI file for demonstration
sample_content = """
[Database]
host = localhost
port = 5432
user = admin
password = secret123
[Logging]
level = INFO
file = app.log
max_size = 10MB
"""
config_file = Path("sample_config.ini")
config_file.write_text(sample_con…How to Parse JSON, TXT, and CSV Files in Python
This code provides simple functions to read and parse JSON, text, and CSV files using Python's standard library, returning native data structures.
import json
from pathlib import Path
def parse_json_file(filepath):
"""Read and parse a JSON file, returning its contents."""
path = Path(filepath)
with path.open('r', encoding='utf-8') as f:
return json.load(f)
def parse_txt_lines(filepath):
"""Read a text file and return non-empty stripped …How to Parse NDJSON Lines into a List in Python
Reads a JSON-lines (NDJSON) file line by line and converts each non-empty line into a Python object, returning a list.
import json
from pathlib import Path
def parse_ndjson(file_path: str) -> list:
data = []
with Path(file_path).open("r", encoding="utf-8") as f:
for line in f:
line = line.strip()
if line:
data.append(json.loads(line))
return data
if __name__ == "__main__"…How to Parse Path Components with pathlib Path in Python
Parse a file path into parent directory, filename, stem, suffix, and parts using the standard library pathlib module.
from pathlib import Path
if __name__ == "__main__":
p = Path("data/reports/2024/final.txt")
print(f"Path: {p}")
print(f"Parent: {p.parent}")
print(f"Name: {p.name}")
print(f"Stem: {p.stem}")
print(f"Suffix: {p.suffix}")
print(f"Parts: {p.parts}")
print(f"Anchor: {p.anchor}")
print(…How to Parse XML Attributes into a Flat Dictionary in Python
Parses XML elements and attributes using ElementTree, building a flat dictionary keyed by element attributes.
import xml.etree.ElementTree as ET
xml_data = """<root>
<book id="1" category="fiction" price="9.99">
<title>The Catcher</title>
</book>
<book id="2" category="nonfiction" price="12.50">
<title>Deep Learning</title>
</book>
</root>"""
def parse_xml_attributes(xml_string):
root = E…How to Prune Empty Directories in Python with os.walk
Remove all empty subdirectories bottom-up using os.walk with topdown=False and os.rmdir, safely ignoring non-empty folders.
import os
def prune_empty_dirs(root):
"""Remove all empty subdirectories under root, bottom-up."""
for dirpath, dirnames, filenames in os.walk(root, topdown=False):
if dirpath == root:
continue
try:
os.rmdir(dirpath)
print(f"Removed: {dirpath}")
exce…How to Read Binary File Bytes and Inspect the Header in Python
Read the first bytes of a binary file with pathlib and display them as a hex dump plus an ASCII view to inspect file headers.
import pathlib
def inspect_binary_header(filepath: str, num_bytes: int = 16) -> None:
"""Read the first bytes of a binary file and display them as hex and ASCII."""
path = pathlib.Path(filepath)
data = path.read_bytes()[:num_bytes]
hex_str = ' '.join(f"{byte:02x}" for byte in data)
ascii_str …How to Read a File with Retry on Temporary IOError in Python
Read a file with automatic retries on temporary IOError/OSError failures, using the pathlib module with configurable attempts and delay.
import time
from pathlib import Path
def read_file_with_retry(filepath: str | Path, max_attempts: int = 3, delay: float = 0.5) -> str:
"""Read a file with retries on temporary IO errors."""
path = Path(filepath)
last_error = None
for attempt in range(max_attempts):
try:
return pat…Browse by section
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