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Python Code Samples

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

20 matches
Files & data medium

Create a Local File Versioning System Using Pure Python

Track file changes locally by copying versions with SHA-256 hashes and JSON metadata using only the Python standard library.

file-versioning files backup
Python
import os
import shutil
import hashlib
import json
import time
from pathlib import Path

class LocalFileVersioning:
    def __init__(self, target_dir="versioned_files", versions_dir="versions"):
        self.target_dir = Path(target_dir)
        self.versions_dir = Path(versions_dir)
        self.metadata_file = self.…
53 0 Open
Files & data medium

Create a ZIP Archive of a Folder in Python

Recursively zip all files in a folder into a single archive using the standard library zipfile and pathlib modules.

zipfile pathlib archives
Python
import zipfile
from pathlib import Path

def zip_folder(source_dir: str, archive_path: str) -> None:
    """Zip all files in source_dir recursively into archive_path."""
    source = Path(source_dir)
    with zipfile.ZipFile(archive_path, "w", zipfile.ZIP_DEFLATED) as archive:
        for file_path in source.rglob("*"…
15 0 Open
Files & data medium

Generate a Beautiful Folder Tree Visualization in Python

A Python utility that creates a visual tree of a directory structure, excluding common files, with configurable depth.

folder tree directory visualization
Python
import os
from pathlib import Path

class FolderTree:
    def __init__(self, root_path=".", ignore_list=None, max_depth=3):
        self.root = Path(root_path)
        self.ignore = set(ignore_list or [".git", "__pycache__", ".DS_Store"])
        self.max_depth = max_depth
        
    def generate(self):
        tree…
68 0 Open
Files & data medium

How to Compare Two Files by Content Hash Equality in Python

Compares two files by hashing their contents with SHA-256, skipping the hash if file sizes differ, and returns whether they are identical.

hashlib sha256 file-hashing
Python
import hashlib
from pathlib import Path

def file_hash(path: Path, chunk_size: int = 8192) -> str:
    sha256 = hashlib.sha256()
    with path.open("rb") as f:
        for chunk in iter(lambda: f.read(chunk_size), b""):
            sha256.update(chunk)
    return sha256.hexdigest()

def files_are_identical(file_a: Pat…
13 0 Open
Files & data medium

How to Find Duplicate Files by Size and Hash in Python

Recursively scan a directory, group files by size, then hash candidates to identify exact duplicate files.

deduplication filesystem hashlib
Python
import hashlib
from pathlib import Path

def hash_file(path, chunk_size=8192):
    hasher = hashlib.md5()
    with open(path, 'rb') as f:
        while chunk := f.read(chunk_size):
            hasher.update(chunk)
    return hasher.hexdigest()

def find_duplicates(directory):
    size_map = {}
    for path in Path(dir…
16 0 Open
Files & data medium

How to Generate an Inventory Report of All Files in Python

Walk a directory tree, collect metadata for every file, and write a CSV inventory report using Python's os, pathlib, and csv modules.

os.walk pathlib csv
Python
import os
import csv
from pathlib import Path
from datetime import datetime

def generate_inventory_report(root_dir: str = "/", output_file: str = "inventory_report.csv"):
    headers = ["File Path", "Size (bytes)", "Last Modified", "File Type"]
    rows = []
    start_time = datetime.now()
    
    for dirpath, dirna…
49 0 Open
Files & data medium

How to Sync Two Folders in Python (Lightweight Backup)

A Python script that synchronizes a source folder to a destination folder, copying new or updated files and removing files that no longer exist in the source.

sync backup filesystem
Python
import os
import shutil
import sys
from pathlib import Path

def sync_folders(src: Path, dst: Path):
    """Sync src folder to dst folder, copying missing/updated files."""
    dst.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)

    for src_path in src.rglob("*"):
        relative = src_path.relative_to(src)
        dst_path = ds…
38 0 Open
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
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 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…
13 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
Automation & scripting medium

Find and Delete Duplicate Files Using Hashing in Python

Walk a directory tree, compute SHA256 hashes for every file, and delete duplicates that share the same hash.

deduplication files hashing
Python
import hashlib
import os
from pathlib import Path

def file_hash(path, block_size=65536):
    """Return SHA256 hash of file content."""
    hasher = hashlib.sha256()
    with open(path, 'rb') as f:
        while chunk := f.read(block_size):
            hasher.update(chunk)
    return hasher.hexdigest()

def find_and_d…
51 0 Open
Automation & scripting medium

Find the Largest Files Consuming Disk Space with a Beautiful Terminal Report in Python

Scan a directory recursively and print a formatted terminal report of the largest files, with human-readable sizes.

file-system disk-space pathlib
Python
import os
import sys
from pathlib import Path

def get_largest_files(directory: str, count: int = 10) -> list:
    """
    Scan the given directory and return the largest files.
    
    Args:
        directory: Path to the directory to scan
        count: Number of largest files to return
        
    Returns:
      …
44 0 Open
Automation & scripting medium

How to Download All Assets from GitHub Releases in Python

Downloads every asset attached to the latest GitHub release of a repository, saving them locally using the GitHub API and Python's requests and pathlib libraries.

github api downloading
Python
import requests
import os
import zipfile
from pathlib import Path

def download_github_release_assets(owner: str, repo: str, output_dir: str = "release_assets") -> None:
    """Downloads all assets from the latest release of a GitHub repository."""
    releases_url = f"https://api.github.com/repos/{owner}/{repo}/relea…
40 0 Open
Automation & scripting medium

How to Generate Project Statistics Including Lines of Code and Complexity in Python

Walk through a Python script that scans a project directory for Python files, counts lines of code excluding blanks and comments, and estimates cyclomatic complexity by counting decision keywords.

code metrics lines of code cyclomatic complexity
Python
import os
from pathlib import Path

def count_lines_of_code(filepath):
    """Counts lines of code in a Python file, excluding blank lines and comments."""
    try:
        with open(filepath, 'r') as f:
            lines = f.readlines()
        code_lines = [line for line in lines if line.strip() and not line.strip()…
40 0 Open
Automation & scripting medium

Python: Archive Old Logs by Compressing Gzip by Age

A Python script that finds .log files older than a specified age and compresses them into .gz archives while removing the originals.

gzip log-rotation automation
Python
import gzip
import os
import shutil
from pathlib import Path


def archive_logs(log_dir: str, max_age_days: int) -> list[str]:
    """Compress log files older than max_age_days into .gz archives.
    
    Returns a list of compressed file paths.
    """
    cutoff = time.time() - max_age_days * 86400
    compressed = …
14 0 Open
Concurrency & performance medium

How to Profile CPU Hot Path in Python with cProfile and sort_stats cumtime

Profile a Python function's CPU usage by running cProfile, sorting stats by cumulative time, and printing a readable report to stdout.

cprofile profiling performance
Python
import cProfile
import pstats
import io


def slow_function():
    total = 0
    for i in range(100_000):
        total += i * i
    return total


def fast_function():
    return sum(i for i in range(100))


def main():
    slow_function()
    fast_function()


if __name__ == "__main__":
    profiler = cProfile.Profi…
12 0 Open
API design & gRPC medium

How to Build a Mock REST GET Endpoint Handler in Python

Create a lightweight mock REST GET server in Python using the standard library, with a dict-based route registry that maps paths to handler functions and returns JSON responses with proper HTTP status codes.

mock-server rest-api http
Python
from http.server import BaseHTTPRequestHandler, HTTPServer
import json

# Mock API handler registry
def handle_users():
    return {"status": "ok", "data": [{"id": 1, "name": "Alice"}, {"id": 2, "name": "Bob"}]}

def handle_products():
    return {"status": "ok", "data": [{"id": 101, "name": "Laptop", "price": 999.99}…
14 0 Open
ML engineering pipelines medium

How to mock an artifact store with local paths in Python for ML pipelines

Create a temporary local artifact store with dummy files and metadata to test ML pipeline code without real storage.

ml-pipelines mock tempfile
Python
import tempfile
from pathlib import Path
import json


def create_artifact_store_mock(base_path: Path = None):
    """Create a local artifact store mock directory structure."""
    if base_path is None:
        base_path = Path(tempfile.mkdtemp())

    store_layout = {
        "artifacts": [
            {"name": "mode…
13 0 Open

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Samples are quick reference — one concept per page. For step-by-step teaching, use our Python tutorials. To test yourself, try quizzes or coding challenges. Clean up style with the Python formatter.