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How to implement binary search in Python
Standalone binary search function that returns the index of a target in a sorted list, or -1 if not found.
def binary_search(arr, target):
left, right = 0, len(arr) - 1
while left <= right:
mid = (left + right) // 2
if arr[mid] == target:
return mid
elif arr[mid] < target:
left = mid + 1
else:
right = mid - 1
return -1
if __name__ ==…How to Detect File Encoding: UTF-8 vs Latin-1 in Python
Detect whether a file is UTF-8 or Latin-1 encoded by attempting a UTF-8 decode and falling back to Latin-1.
import sys
def detect_encoding(file_path):
with open(file_path, 'rb') as f:
raw = f.read()
try:
raw.decode('utf-8')
return 'UTF-8'
except UnicodeDecodeError:
return 'latin1'
if __name__ == "__main__":
file_path = sys.argv[1] if len(sys.argv) > 1 else 'sample.txt'
…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 Split a Large File into Fixed-Size Parts in Python
Splits any binary or text file into multiple part files of a fixed byte size using Python's standard library.
import os
import math
def split_file(filepath, chunk_size_bytes):
"""Split a file into parts of fixed size (bytes). Creates part files in same directory."""
filepath = os.path.abspath(filepath)
basename = os.path.basename(filepath)
file_size = os.path.getsize(filepath)
num_parts = math.ceil(file_s…How to Write Bytes to a File in Python with 'wb'
Write a bytearray buffer to a binary file using Python's open() in 'wb' mode, then read it back to confirm the data.
data = bytearray([0x48, 0x65, 0x6c, 0x6c, 0x6f, 0x20, 0x57, 0x6f, 0x72, 0x6c, 0x64])
with open("output.bin", "wb") as f:
f.write(data)
with open("output.bin", "rb") as f:
content = f.read()
print(f"Written {len(data)} bytes: {content}")
print(f"As string: {content.decode('ascii')}")Reassemble File Parts into Original File Bytes in Python
Read sorted part files from a directory and concatenate their bytes into the original file.
import os
import sys
from pathlib import Path
def reassemble_parts(parts_dir: Path, output_path: Path) -> int:
"""
Reassemble file parts into the original file.
Args:
parts_dir: Directory containing the part files
output_path: Path where the reassembled file will be written
Returns:
…How to Pickle a Python Dict and Load It Back
Save a dictionary to a binary file with pickle.dump() and reload it with pickle.load(), showing the round trip and type preservation.
import pickle
data = {"name": "Alice", "scores": [87, 92, 95], "active": True}
print("Original dict:", data)
with open("safe_demo.pkl", "wb") as f:
pickle.dump(data, f)
with open("safe_demo.pkl", "rb") as f:
loaded = pickle.load(f)
print("Loaded dict:", loaded)
print("Type:", type(loaded).__name__)
print(…Binary Tree Inorder Traversal in Python
Define a TreeNode class and recursively print in-order traversal (left, node, right) of a binary tree.
class TreeNode:
def __init__(self, val=0, left=None, right=None):
self.val = val
self.left = left
self.right = right
def inorder_traversal(root):
return inorder_traversal(root.left) + [root.val] + inorder_traversal(root.right) if root else []
if __name__ == "__main__":
# Build a…How to Find the Nearest Value to a Target in a Sorted List in Python
Use bisect to binary-search a sorted list and return the element closest to a target value.
import bisect
def nearest_value(sorted_list, target):
if not sorted_list:
return None
pos = bisect.bisect_left(sorted_list, target)
if pos == 0:
return sorted_list[0]
if pos == len(sorted_list):
return sorted_list[-1]
before = sorted_list[pos - 1]
after = sorted_list[po…How to Automatically Download Every Favicon from a List of Websites in Python
Download each website's favicon.ico file by constructing its URL, making a GET request, and saving the binary content locally.
import requests
from urllib.parse import urlparse
import os
websites = [
"https://www.google.com",
"https://www.github.com",
"https://www.stackoverflow.com"
]
def download_favicon(url):
parsed = urlparse(url)
favicon_url = f"{parsed.scheme}://{parsed.netloc}/favicon.ico"
response = requests.g…Bisect Good Bad Automation Script in Python
This Python script implements a binary search to find the first bad version in a list, simulating an automation script for git bisect.
import bisect
def find_first_bad(versions):
"""Given a list of version objects with .is_bad(), find first bad version."""
lo, hi = 0, len(versions)
while lo < hi:
mid = (lo + hi) // 2
if versions[mid].is_bad():
hi = mid
else:
lo = mid + 1
return lo
clas…Upload Assets to GitHub Release with Python Mock
Simulates uploading binary and text assets to a GitHub release using a mock server, returning structured metadata for each upload.
import json
import os
import tempfile
from datetime import datetime
class ReleaseUploader:
"""Simulates uploading assets to a release with a mock server."""
def __init__(self, owner: str, repo: str, tag: str):
self.owner = owner
self.repo = repo
self.tag = tag
self.uploade…How to Mock a Schema Registry Avro Record in Python
Encode a Python dict into Avro binary using an inline schema, mimicking a schema registry record for tests or mocks.
import io
from avro.schema import parse
from avro.io import DatumWriter, BinaryEncoder
schema_json = """
{
"type": "record",
"name": "User",
"fields": [
{"name": "name", "type": "string"},
{"name": "age", "type": "int"},
{"name": "email", "type": ["null", "string"], "default": null}
]
}
"""
schem…How to Evaluate Accuracy, Precision, and Recall in Python
Compute accuracy, precision, and recall for a binary classification model using scikit-learn's metrics functions.
from sklearn.metrics import accuracy_score, precision_score, recall_score
if __name__ == "__main__":
y_true = [0, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1]
y_pred = [0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1]
accuracy = accuracy_score(y_true, y_pred)
precision = precision_score(y_true, y_pred)
recall = recall_score(y_true, y_pred)
…How to Build a Simple Binary Protocol Parser Mock in Python
Defines a mock binary protocol with field definitions, encoding, and decoding to simulate network packet parsing for A/B testing and experiment setup.
class SimpleProtocol:
def __init__(self, name, version):
self.name = name
self.version = version
self.fields = []
def add_field(self, field_name, field_size):
self.fields.append((field_name, field_size))
def parse(self, data):
if len(data) != sum(size for _, size i…How to Do Random Assignment in Python for A/B Tests
Assign each item to a binary group (0 or 1) with uniform probability using a small reusable function, optionally weighted, for A/B testing mocks.
import random
def random_assignment_uniform_mock(items, weights=None):
"""Assign each item to a group (0 or 1) with uniform probability."""
if weights is None:
# Default: each item independently gets 0 or 1 with 50% probability
return [random.randint(0, 1) for _ in items]
# Optional weight…Browse by section
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