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Python Code Samples

Medium snippets you can copy, study, and run in the browser editor.

631 matches
Files & data medium

How to Write a List of Lines to a Text File Safely in Python

This code atomically writes a list of strings as lines to a text file using a temporary file and os.replace to prevent corruption.

files atomic-write pathlib
Python
from pathlib import Path
import tempfile
import os

def write_lines_safely(lines: list[str], filepath: str | Path) -> None:
    """Write lines to a text file atomically to avoid corruption."""
    path = Path(filepath)
    path.parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
    
    fd, temp_path = tempfile.mkstemp(dir=str…
13 0 Open
Files & data medium

Join two CSV files on shared key column in Python

Merge rows from two CSV files by a common key column, outputting combined records to a new file.

csv join dictreader
Python
import csv

def join_csv(file1, file2, key, output="joined.csv"):
    # Read first CSV into dict keyed by the join column
    with open(file1, newline="") as f1:
        reader1 = csv.DictReader(f1)
        data1 = {row[key]: row for row in reader1}

    # Read second CSV and merge matching rows
    with open(file2, n…
15 0 Open
Files & data medium

Read Parquet-Like Columnar CSV Chunks in Python

A Python generator that reads a CSV file column-by-column, yielding dictionary chunks where each key points to a list of values—mirroring how Parquet stores data columnar.

csv columnar generator
Python
```python
import csv
from pathlib import Path
from typing import Iterator, List

def read_parquet_like_columnar(csv_path: str, column_names: List[str], chunk_size: int = 2) -> Iterator[dict]:
    """Read CSV data in columnar chunks, similar to how parquet stores columns."""
    csv_file = Path(csv_path)
    with csv_f…
13 0 Open
Files & data medium

Scrape HTML Tables and Convert Them to CSV Using Beautiful Soup in Python

Scrape a Wikipedia table with Beautiful Soup and write the data to a CSV file using the csv module.

web scraping beautiful soup csv
Python
import requests
from bs4 import BeautifulSoup
import csv

url = "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal)"
response = requests.get(url)
soup = BeautifulSoup(response.text, 'html.parser')

tables = soup.find_all('table', {'class': 'wikitable'})

if tables:
    target_table = tables[2]
    rows =…
47 0 Open
Files & data medium

Tail last N lines of growing log file in Python

Prints the last n lines of a log file and follows new content appended to it, polling for size changes.

log-file file-handling polling
Python
import time
from pathlib import Path

def tail_log(file_path, n=10, poll_interval=1.0, timeout=10):
    """
    Print the last n lines and follow new lines appended to a growing log file.
    """
    path = Path(file_path)
    # Read the last n lines from the current file
    with path.open("r", encoding="utf-8") as f…
12 0 Open
Dictionaries & sets medium

Build a Case-Insensitive Dict with a Wrapper Class in Python

Create a custom dict subclass that treats keys as case-insensitive by normalizing them to lowercase, with a full set of common dict methods.

dictionary case-insensitive wrapper
Python
class CaseInsensitiveDict:
    def __init__(self, data=None):
        self._data = {}
        if data:
            self.update(data)

    def __setitem__(self, key, value):
        self._data[str(key).lower()] = value

    def __getitem__(self, key):
        return self._data[str(key).lower()]

    def __delitem__(sel…
15 0 Open
Dictionaries & sets medium

Find All Leaf Paths in a Nested Dict in Python

Recursively traverse a nested dictionary and yield every leaf path as a list of keys, including paths to empty dictionaries.

dictionary recursion nested-data
Python
def find_leaf_paths(data, path=None):
    if path is None:
        path = []
    
    if not isinstance(data, dict) or not data:
        yield path
        return
    
    for key, value in data.items():
        yield from find_leaf_paths(value, path + [key])

if __name__ == "__main__":
    nested = {
        "a": 1,
…
13 0 Open
Dictionaries & sets medium

Get Nested Dict Value with Default in Python

Access values deep inside a nested dictionary using a dotted path string, returning a default when any key is missing.

dictionaries nested default-value
Python
def get_nested(d, path, default=None):
    """Walk a nested dict along a dotted path, returning default if missing."""
    current = d
    for key in path.split("."):
        if isinstance(current, dict) and key in current:
            current = current[key]
        else:
            return default
    return current
…
16 0 Open
Dictionaries & sets medium

How to Build a TTL Cache Dict in Python

Create a dictionary subclass that automatically expires keys after a fixed time-to-live using timestamps.

dictionary cache ttl
Python
import time

class TTLDict(dict):
    def __init__(self, ttl, *args, **kwargs):
        self.ttl = ttl
        self._expires = {}
        super().__init__(*args, **kwargs)

    def __setitem__(self, key, value):
        super().__setitem__(key, value)
        self._expires[key] = time.time() + self.ttl

    def __geti…
16 0 Open
Dictionaries & sets medium

How to Build a Two-Way Dictionary in Python

Implement a BiDict class that supports both forward key-to-value and reverse value-to-key lookups with a simple add, delete, and update API.

dictionary bidirectional class
Python
class BiDict:
    def __init__(self, data=None):
        self.forward = {}
        self.backward = {}
        if data:
            self.update(data)

    def update(self, data):
        for key, value in data.items():
            self[key] = value

    def __setitem__(self, key, value):
        self.forward[key] = val…
11 0 Open
Dictionaries & sets medium

How to Deep Merge Nested Dicts Recursively in Python

Recursively merge two Python dictionaries, with overlay values taking precedence while preserving nested structures.

dict-merge recursion nested-dicts
Python
def deep_merge(base, overlay):
    """
    Recursively merge two dictionaries.
    Values in 'overlay' take precedence over 'base'.
    """
    result = base.copy()
    
    for key, value in overlay.items():
        if key in result and isinstance(result[key], dict) and isinstance(value, dict):
            result[key…
14 0 Open
Dictionaries & sets medium

How to Implement Disjoint Set Union Find in Python

Implement a Disjoint Set Union-Find data structure using a Python dictionary for parent tracking, with path compression and connectivity checks.

disjoint-set union-find graph
Python
class DisjointSet:
    def __init__(self):
        self.parent = {}

    def find(self, x):
        # Path compression
        if self.parent[x] != x:
            self.parent[x] = self.find(self.parent[x])
        return self.parent[x]

    def union(self, x, y):
        # Initialize if not present
        if x not in…
14 0 Open
Dictionaries & sets medium

How to Recursively Remove None Values from Nested Dictionaries in Python

Recursively removes all None values from nested dictionaries and lists while preserving non-None data.

dictionaries recursion data-cleaning
Python
def prune_none(obj):
    if isinstance(obj, dict):
        return {
            k: prune_none(v)
            for k, v in obj.items()
            if v is not None and prune_none(v) is not None
        }
    elif isinstance(obj, list):
        pruned = [prune_none(item) for item in obj]
        pruned = [item for item i…
15 0 Open
Dictionaries & sets medium

LRU Cache with OrderedDict in Python

Implement an LRU cache using collections.OrderedDict to track insertion order and evict the least-recently-used item when capacity is exceeded.

lru-cache ordereddict caching
Python
from collections import OrderedDict

class LRUCache:
    def __init__(self, capacity):
        self.capacity = capacity
        self.cache = OrderedDict()

    def get(self, key):
        if key not in self.cache:
            return -1
        self.cache.move_to_end(key)
        return self.cache[key]

    def put(sel…
14 0 Open
Dictionaries & sets medium

Traverse Nested Dict Paths Depth-First in Python

Recursively walk a nested dictionary depth-first and yield each full path from root to leaf as lists.

recursion generators nested-dicts
Python
def depth_first_paths(node, path=None):
    if path is None:
        path = []
    
    if not isinstance(node, dict):
        yield path + [node]
        return
    
    for key, value in node.items():
        new_path = path + [key]
        if isinstance(value, dict):
            yield from depth_first_paths(value, …
13 0 Open
Dictionaries & sets medium

Unflatten Dot Keys to Nested Dict in Python

Convert a flat dictionary with dot-separated keys into a nested dictionary structure using recursive setdefault loops.

dictionaries nested flatten
Python
def unflatten_dot_keys(flat_dict):
    result = {}
    for flat_key, value in flat_dict.items():
        parts = flat_key.split(".")
        current = result
        for part in parts[:-1]:
            current = current.setdefault(part, {})
        current[parts[-1]] = value
    return result


if __name__ == "__main_…
14 0 Open
OOP & classes medium

Borg pattern shared state in Python

Implement the Borg pattern to share state across class instances by assigning a class-level dictionary to each instance's __dict__.

borg monostate shared-state
Python
class Borg:
    _shared_state = {}

    def __init__(self):
        self.__dict__ = Borg._shared_state


class ConfigManager(Borg):
    def __init__(self):
        super().__init__()
        if not hasattr(self, "settings"):
            self.settings = {}

    def set(self, key, value):
        self.settings[key] = va…
15 0 Open
OOP & classes medium

Bridge Pattern in Python: Separate Abstraction from Implementation

Implement the Bridge design pattern in Python so that an abstraction (remote control) can operate on different device implementations independently.

bridge design-pattern oop
Python
class RemoteControl:
    """Abstraction: controls a device without knowing implementation details."""
    def __init__(self, device):
        self.device = device

    def toggle_power(self):
        if self.device.is_enabled():
            self.device.disable()
            return "Power off"
        else:
           …
16 0 Open
OOP & classes medium

Composable Predicates with the &, |, ~ Operators in Python

Define a reusable Predicate class that combines boolean checks with & (AND), | (OR), and ~ (NOT) operators.

predicates operator-overloading oop
Python
class Predicate:
    def __init__(self, func, name=None):
        self.func = func
        self.name = name or getattr(func, "__name__", "predicate")

    def __call__(self, value):
        return self.func(value)

    def __and__(self, other):
        return Predicate(lambda v: self(v) and other(v), f"({self.name} AN…
14 0 Open
OOP & classes medium

How to Build a Linked List Node Class in Python

Create a Node class and a LinkedList class with insert, remove, and display methods to manage a singly linked list.

linked-list node oop
Python
class Node:
    def __init__(self, data):
        self.data = data
        self.next = None

class LinkedList:
    def __init__(self):
        self.head = None

    def insert(self, data):
        new_node = Node(data)
        if not self.head:
            self.head = new_node
        else:
            current = self.…
12 0 Open
OOP & classes medium

How to Create a Data Splitter Class in Python

This code defines a DataSplitter class that splits data by index, into chunks, or by a predicate, demonstrating OOP principles in Python.

class data-splitting slicing
Python
class DataSplitter:
    def __init__(self, data):
        self.data = list(data)
    
    def split_by_index(self, index):
        return self.data[:index], self.data[index:]
    
    def split_into_chunks(self, chunk_size):
        return [self.data[i:i + chunk_size] for i in range(0, len(self.data), chunk_size)]
   …
14 0 Open
OOP & classes medium

How to Implement the Command Pattern with Undo in Python

Python code demonstrating the Command design pattern with undo and redo support using action objects and a history manager.

command-pattern design-patterns oop
Python
class Command:
    def execute(self):
        raise NotImplementedError

    def undo(self):
        raise NotImplementedError


class AddTextCommand(Command):
    def __init__(self, document, text):
        self.document = document
        self.text = text

    def execute(self):
        self.document.append(self.tex…
13 0 Open
OOP & classes medium

How to Implement the State Pattern in Python

Implement the State design pattern in Python by delegating behavior to state objects, letting a media player change actions dynamically without if-else chains.

state-pattern design-patterns oop
Python
class State:
    def play(self, player): pass
    def pause(self, player): pass
    def stop(self, player): pass

class PlayingState(State):
    def play(self, player):
        return "Already playing"
    def pause(self, player):
        player.state = PausedState()
        return "Pausing playback"
    def stop(self…
12 0 Open
OOP & classes medium

How to Lazy Load an Expensive Attribute with a Proxy in Python

This code shows a Proxy class that lazily loads an ExpensiveResource only when first accessed, caching it for subsequent uses.

lazy-loading proxy properties
Python
class ExpensiveResource:
    def __init__(self, name):
        self.name = name
        print(f"Expensive resource '{name}' created (e.g., DB connection)")

    def use(self):
        return f"Using {self.name}"

class Proxy:
    def __init__(self, name):
        self._name = name
        self._resource = None

    @p…
15 0 Open

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