Reference library

Python Code Samples

Copy-ready Python snippets by topic and difficulty — short, focused, and runnable in the browser editor.

58 matches
Automation & scripting easy

Convert Markdown to HTML in Python (Batch)

Convert every Markdown file in a directory to HTML with the Python markdown library, saving each result with an .html extension.

markdown html batch
Python
import markdown
from pathlib import Path


def convert_md_to_html(source_dir: str, dest_dir: str) -> list[str]:
    src = Path(source_dir)
    dst = Path(dest_dir)
    dst.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)

    converted_files = []
    for md_file in src.glob("*.md"):
        html_content = markdown.markdown(md_file.…
14 0 Open
Automation & scripting easy

Create a Simple HTTP File Server in Python

This code creates a simple HTTP file server that serves files from the current working directory on port 8000 using Python's built-in http.server module.

http server file-server
Python
import http.server
import socketserver
import os

PORT = 8000
DIRECTORY = os.getcwd()

class CustomHandler(http.server.SimpleHTTPRequestHandler):
    def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
        super().__init__(*args, directory=DIRECTORY, **kwargs)

    def log_message(self, format, *args):
        print(f"[{self.log…
55 0 Open
Automation & scripting medium

Detect Circular Imports Across Python Projects Automatically

This script walks through all .py files in a directory, builds an import graph, and uses depth-first search to find cycles—printing each circular dependency chain.

circular-imports import-graph ast
Python
import ast
import sys
from pathlib import Path
from collections import defaultdict, deque

def find_imports(filepath):
    """Return set of module names imported by a Python file."""
    imports = set()
    try:
        with open(filepath) as f:
            tree = ast.parse(f.read())
    except (SyntaxError, UnicodeDe…
39 0 Open
Automation & scripting medium

Detect and Remove Blurry Images in Python with OpenCV

Automatically scan a directory of images, detect blur using Laplacian variance, and remove blurry images with a dry-run option for safety.

opencv image-processing automation
Python
from pathlib import Path
import cv2
import numpy as np

def is_blurry(image_path, threshold=100.0):
    """
    Detect if an image is blurry using Laplacian variance.
    Returns True if blurry, False otherwise.
    """
    img = cv2.imread(str(image_path), cv2.IMREAD_GRAYSCALE)
    if img is None:
        return True…
48 0 Open
Automation & scripting medium

Find Orphan Files Not Referenced Anywhere in Python

Scan a project directory for files whose names never appear in the content of other files, identifying potentially unused resources.

orphan files file cleanup automation
Python
import os
from pathlib import Path
import re

def find_orphan_files(root_dir: str, extensions: set = None, ignore_patterns: list = None):
    """Find files not referenced by any other file in the project."""
    if extensions is None:
        extensions = {'.txt', '.md', '.py', '.html', '.css', '.js', '.json', '.yaml'…
38 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 easy

How to Auto Organize Downloads by File Extension in Python

A Python script that sorts files in a directory into subfolders based on their file extensions, creating folders automatically.

file-organization automation pathlib
Python
import os
import shutil
from pathlib import Path

def organize_downloads(download_dir="~/Downloads"):
    """Move files in a directory into subfolders based on file extension."""
    download_path = Path(download_dir).expanduser()
    
    if not download_path.exists():
        print(f"Directory not found: {download_p…
13 0 Open
Automation & scripting easy

How to Clean Old Temp Files in Python

A Python script that scans a directory and deletes files older than a configurable age (default: one week), with safe error handling.

file-system cleanup pathlib
Python
import os
import time
from pathlib import Path

def clean_old_temp_files(directory=".", max_age_seconds=7 * 24 * 60 * 60):
    """
    Remove files in directory older than the specified age.
    
    Args:
        directory: Path to directory to clean
        max_age_seconds: Maximum age in seconds (default: 1 week)
 …
12 0 Open
Automation & scripting easy

How to Compress a Folder in Python While Preserving Directory Structure

A Python function that uses zipfile to recursively compress a folder, maintaining the original directory hierarchy inside the zip archive.

compression zipfile file-archiving
Python
import os
import zipfile
from pathlib import Path

def compress_folder(source_dir: str, output_zip: str):
    """
    Compress a folder into a zip file, preserving the directory structure.
    
    Args:
        source_dir: Path to the source directory to compress
        output_zip: Path for the output zip file
    "…
34 0 Open
Automation & scripting easy

How to Deploy a Static Site Build to an Nginx Directory in Python

Copy a static site build directory into an Nginx web root using Python's shutil and pathlib modules.

automation deployment shutil
Python
import shutil
import os
from pathlib import Path

SRC_DIR = Path("build")
DEST_DIR = Path("/var/www/html")

def deploy_site(src: Path, dest: Path) -> None:
    if not src.exists():
        raise FileNotFoundError(f"Build directory not found: {src}")

    dest.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)

    for item in src.ite…
16 0 Open
Automation & scripting easy

How to Download a List of URLs to a Directory in Python

This script downloads a list of URLs into a specified directory, creating the folder if needed and keeping original filenames.

urllib download file-io
Python
import urllib.request
from pathlib import Path

def download_urls(url_list, directory):
    """Download each URL in url_list into directory, keeping original filenames."""
    save_dir = Path(directory)
    save_dir.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
    
    for url in url_list:
        filename = url.rstrip('/').spl…
15 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

How to Generate a Dependency Graph for Python Projects

This script walks through a Python project directory, parses each .py file's imports, and prints a dependency graph showing which modules depend on which other modules.

ast dependency graph import parsing
Python
import os
import ast
from pathlib import Path
from collections import defaultdict

def get_imports(filepath):
    with open(filepath) as f:
        try:
            tree = ast.parse(f.read())
        except SyntaxError:
            return []
    imports = []
    for node in ast.walk(tree):
        if isinstance(node, …
39 0 Open
Automation & scripting easy

How to Hash Duplicate Photos and Delete Copies in Python

This script hashes image files in a directory using SHA-256 and deletes duplicate copies while keeping the first occurrence, ideal for cleaning up photo libraries.

hashlib deduplication file-automation
Python
from pathlib import Path
import hashlib

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

def delete_duplicate_photos(directory):
    directory …
14 0 Open
Automation & scripting easy

How to Recover Deleted .txt Files from a Backup in Python

A Python function that searches a backup directory recursively and copies all .txt files to a destination folder, printing each recovered file name and a total count.

backup recovery file-operations
Python
import os
import shutil
from pathlib import Path

def recover_deleted_txt_files(source_backup_dir: str, destination_dir: str) -> None:
    """Recover .txt files from backup directory."""
    backup_path = Path(source_backup_dir)
    dest_path = Path(destination_dir)
    dest_path.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)

  …
40 0 Open
Automation & scripting medium

How to Sync Two Directories in Python (rsync-like)

Mirror a source directory into a destination by copying new or changed files and deleting extras, similar to rsync.

sync directory rsync
Python
import os
import shutil
import sys
from pathlib import Path

def sync_dirs(src: Path, dst: Path):
    """Mirror src into dst: copy new files, overwrite changed, delete extras."""
    dst.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
    for dst_entry in dst.rglob('*'):
        rel = dst_entry.relative_to(dst)
        src_entry =…
14 0 Open
Automation & scripting easy

How to Watch a Folder and Convert New Images in Python

Watch a folder for new files and mock-convert images by copying and renaming them in an output directory.

folder-watching automation pathlib
Python
import time
import hashlib
from pathlib import Path
from datetime import datetime

def mock_convert_image(source: Path, dest_dir: Path) -> Path:
    """Mock image conversion: copy bytes and add .converted suffix."""
    dest = dest_dir / f"{source.stem}.converted{source.suffix}"
    dest.write_bytes(source.read_bytes(…
12 0 Open
Automation & scripting medium

How to apply Kubernetes YAML files from a folder in Python

Uses the Kubernetes Python client to apply all YAML manifests in a directory, with sorted processing and per-file error handling.

kubernetes yaml automation
Python
import os
import yaml
from kubernetes import client, config
from kubernetes.utils import create_from_yaml

def apply_yaml_folder(folder_path):
    """Apply all YAML files in a folder using the Kubernetes mock client."""
    # Load mock configuration
    config.load_kube_config()
    k8s_client = client.ApiClient()

  …
12 0 Open
Automation & scripting medium

How to check Python files for common coding mistakes

Walks a directory tree parsing each .py file with ast, reporting empty functions, bare try blocks, too many parameters, and empty classes.

ast linting code-quality
Python
import ast
import os
import sys

def check_file(filepath):
    try:
        with open(filepath) as f:
            code = f.read()
        tree = ast.parse(code, filename=filepath)
    except SyntaxError as e:
        print(f"{filepath}: SyntaxError: {e.msg}")
        return
    
    issues = []
    for node in ast.wal…
42 0 Open
Automation & scripting easy

Restore sqlite from latest backup file in Python

This script finds the most recently modified backup file in a directory and restores it to the main database path, then verifies the restored data.

sqlite backup file-io
Python
import sqlite3
import glob
import os
import shutil

def restore_latest_backup(db_path, backup_dir):
    backups = sorted(glob.glob(os.path.join(backup_dir, "*.db")), key=os.path.getmtime)
    if not backups:
        raise FileNotFoundError("No backup files found")
    latest = backups[-1]
    shutil.copy2(latest, db_p…
14 0 Open
Data pipelines & processing easy

How to create a dated snapshot path for a dataset in Python

Generate a versioned directory path combining a base directory, dataset name, and today's date, ready for creating snapshots in data pipelines.

date pathlib datasets
Python
import datetime
import os
from pathlib import Path


def snapshot_path(base_dir: str, dataset_name: str) -> Path:
    """Return a dated snapshot path for a dataset under a base directory."""
    today = datetime.date.today().isoformat()
    return Path(base_dir) / dataset_name / today


if __name__ == "__main__":
    …
15 0 Open
Data pipelines & processing easy

Trigger a Pipeline When a New File Appears in a Directory

Poll a directory every 0.5 seconds and return the name of the first new file that appears, or None after a timeout.

polling filesystem file-watcher
Python
import time
from pathlib import Path


def watch_for_file(directory: str, interval: float = 0.5, timeout: float = 10.0) -> str | None:
    """Poll a directory and trigger when a new file appears."""
    watch_dir = Path(directory)
    watch_dir.mkdir(exist_ok=True)
    
    known_files = set(watch_dir.iterdir())
    s…
13 0 Open
Git + Python medium

How to Archive a Repository as a ZIP in Python

Create a ZIP archive of a repository directory with a mock export, skipping hidden files and __pycache__ folders.

zipfile os.walk archiving
Python
import zipfile
import io
import os
from pathlib import Path


def archive_repo_mock(repo_path, output_path="repo_archive.zip"):
    """Create a zip archive of a repository directory (mock export)."""
    repo = Path(repo_path)
    if not repo.exists():
        raise FileNotFoundError(f"Repository not found: {repo}")

…
13 0 Open

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Each section groups closely related Python snippets.

Guide: free Python code samples library

Copy-ready Python snippets for learners and developers

PythonSkillset code samples are short, focused examples organised by topic and difficulty. Every snippet is server-rendered HTML — readable by search engines and easy to copy. Open any sample, read the notes, copy the code, then press Try in editor to run it in the browser with Pyodide.

How to use this library

  1. Pick a topic section — strings, lists, files, functions, and more
  2. Open a sample, read How it works, and copy the code block
  3. Run it in the IDE, tweak values, then take a related quiz or tutorial lesson

Samples vs tutorials and challenges

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.