Python Code
Samples
Copy-ready Python snippets by topic and difficulty — short, focused, and runnable in the browser editor.
How to Build a CLI with argparse in Python
Create a beginner-friendly command-line tool in Python that processes multiple filenames with optional flags for verbose output and uppercase conversion.
import argparse
def main():
parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(
description="A simple CLI to process files with optional verbose mode."
)
parser.add_argument("filenames", nargs="+", help="Files to process")
parser.add_argument("-v", "--verbose", action="store_true", help="Print extra details")
…How to Build a Simple Python CLI with argparse
Create a friendly command-line greeting tool with argparse that accepts a positional name and optional flags for custom greetings and uppercase output.
import argparse
def greet(name, greeting="Hello", uppercase=False):
message = f"{greeting}, {name}!"
return message.upper() if uppercase else message
if __name__ == "__main__":
parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(
description="A simple greeting tool to demonstrate argparse basics."
)
parser.…How to Build a Simple argparse CLI in Python
Build a beginner-friendly command-line tool with argparse that greets a user, with optional greeting text and uppercase output.
import argparse
def greet(name, greeting="Hello", uppercase=False):
message = f"{greeting}, {name}!"
if uppercase:
message = message.upper()
return message
if __name__ == "__main__":
parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description="Simple CLI greeting tool")
parser.add_argument("name", help=…How to Build an argparse Command-Line Tool in Python
Create a simple file-info CLI with argparse that counts lines and prints file size, with optional verbose and output flags.
import argparse
import os
from pathlib import Path
def process_file(filepath, verbose=False):
"""Read a file and report its size and line count."""
path = Path(filepath)
if not path.exists():
raise FileNotFoundError(f"File not found: {filepath}")
content = path.read_text()
lines = conten…How to Create a Mock Headless Browser Screenshot Stub in Python
This code provides a deterministic stub that simulates capturing webpage screenshots with a headless browser, returning formatted output without real browser dependencies.
import subprocess
import sys
def mock_screenshot_webpage(url: str, width: int = 1280, height: int = 800) -> str:
"""Stub that simulates taking a screenshot of a webpage using headless browser."""
# In real implementation, you would use playwright/selenium/headless chrome
result = {
"url": url,
…How to Mock a Whisper API Transcription Stub in Python
Simulate an OpenAI Whisper-style transcription response with a dataclass request model and a mock function that returns structured audio transcription output.
import json
from dataclasses import dataclass
from typing import Optional
@dataclass
class AudioRequest:
file_path: str
language: Optional[str] = None
def to_api_payload(self) -> dict:
return {"file": self.file_path, "language": self.language}
def mock_whisper_transcribe(payload: dict) -> dict:
…How to Mock subprocess Calls in Python with unittest.mock
A Python script that wraps Vagrant up/destroy commands using subprocess, with tests that mock the subprocess call to simulate outputs and errors.
import subprocess
from unittest.mock import patch, Mock
def run_vagrant(action: str) -> str:
result = subprocess.run(
["vagrant", action],
capture_output=True,
text=True,
check=False,
)
return result.stdout.strip()
def vagrant_wrapper(action: str) -> str:
if action n…How to Monitor USB Device Connections in Python
A Python utility that monitors USB device connections and disconnections by comparing output of the lsusb command at regular intervals.
import time
import subprocess
import os
def get_usb_devices():
"""Return list of currently connected USB devices (Linux)."""
try:
result = subprocess.run(['lsusb'], capture_output=True, text=True, check=True)
return result.stdout.strip().split('\n')
except (subprocess.CalledProcessError, F…How to Parse Terraform Plan Output in Python
Parse mock Terraform plan output text into structured add, change, and destroy lists using Python.
import json
from typing import Dict, List
def parse_terraform_plan_output(plan_output_text: str) -> Dict[str, List[str]]:
"""
Parses a mock Terraform plan output text into a structured dictionary.
"""
parsed: Dict[str, List[str]] = {"add": [], "change": [], "destroy": []}
for line in plan_output_…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.
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(…Mock Certbot Renewal in Python for Testing
Simulates a Let's Encrypt certificate renewal by writing a mock certificate file and printing realistic certbot CLI output, without calling the actual certbot.
import subprocess
import sys
from datetime import datetime, timedelta
from pathlib import Path
def renew_cert(domain: str, output_dir: str = "certs") -> str:
"""Simulate a Let's Encrypt renewal with mock certbot output."""
out = Path(output_dir)
out.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
cert_path = out…Resize Disk Partitions in Python (Mock Script)
A mock disk partition resize script that uses dataclasses to model partitions, validate new sizes, and output the updated layout as JSON.
#!/usr/bin/env python3
"""Mock script to demonstrate disk partition resize logic."""
import json
from dataclasses import dataclass
from typing import Dict
@dataclass
class Partition:
name: str
size_gb: int
mount_point: str
def to_dict(self) -> Dict[str, object]:
return {
"name": …How to Compress Pipeline Output Gzip Per Partition in Python
Compress each partition of pipeline output into a separate gzip file and verify the compressed data by reading it back.
import gzip
import io
import random
from pathlib import Path
def compress_partition(partition_data: list[str], output_path: Path) -> int:
"""Compress a partition of data to a gzip file, returns bytes written."""
with gzip.open(output_path, 'wt', encoding='utf-8') as f:
f.writelines(partition_data)
…How to Convert Data Types in a Python Data Pipeline
Demonstrates a simple Python data pipeline that converts string values to proper types (bool, int, float, datetime) and outputs structured JSON.
import json
from datetime import datetime
def convert_value(value):
"""Convert string values to appropriate Python types."""
if value.lower() == "true":
return True
if value.lower() == "false":
return False
if value.isdigit():
return int(value)
try:
return float(val…How to Partition Output Files by Date Key in Python
Group output files into a dictionary partitioned by a YYYYMMDD date key extracted from the filename prefix.
from pathlib import Path
from collections import defaultdict
def partition_files_by_date(directory: str) -> dict:
"""Partition output files by date key extracted from filename (YYYYMMDD prefix)."""
path = Path(directory)
partitions = defaultdict(list)
for file in path.iterdir():
if file.i…How to route late-arriving data to a side output in Python
Separate late-arriving events from a streaming data batch into a dead-letter side output list using a timestamp threshold.
from collections import defaultdict
def late_arriving_side_output(events, late_threshold_ts):
"""
Mock a streaming pipeline that separates late-arriving data events
into a side output list (e.g., for dead-letter analysis).
events: list of (timestamp, data) tuples, timestamps as ints.
late_thresho…How to shard output by primary key hash mod N in Python
This code computes a consistent shard index for any primary key string using an MD5 hash mod the number of shards, enabling stable key-based data distribution.
import hashlib
def shard_id(primary_key: str, num_shards: int) -> int:
"""Return the shard index for a primary key using MD5 hash mod N."""
digest = hashlib.md5(primary_key.encode("utf-8")).hexdigest()
hash_int = int(digest, 16)
return hash_int % num_shards
if __name__ == "__main__":
keys = ["use…Pipeline stage compose functions left to right in Python
Compose multiple functions into a left-to-right pipeline so each stage receives the output of the previous one.
def compose(*funcs):
"""Compose functions left to right: compose(f, g, h)(x) == h(g(f(x)))"""
def composed(arg):
result = arg
for func in funcs:
result = func(result)
return result
return composed
if __name__ == "__main__":
def add_one(x):
return x + 1
…Count Unique Contributors from Git Shortlog in Python
Parses git shortlog -sn output to count the number of unique contributors, handling duplicate entries and variable whitespace.
import subprocess
from collections import Counter
# Mock shortlog output as a list of lines (simulating git shortlog -sn output)
MOCK_SHORTLOG = """ 120 Alice Johnson
88 Bob Smith
45 Alice Johnson
30 Carol Williams
25 Bob Smith
10 Dave Brown
"""
def count_contributors_from_shortlog(text):
"…How to Build a Git Helper Class in Python
A beginner-friendly GitHelper class that wraps common git commands (status, log, branch) into reusable Python methods with structured output.
import subprocess
import json
from pathlib import Path
class GitHelper:
def __init__(self, repo_path="."):
self.repo = Path(repo_path)
def run(self, *args):
result = subprocess.run(
["git", *args],
cwd=self.repo,
capture_output=True,
text=True,…How to Make a Git Commit Heatmap by Hour in Python
Parse a git log output and count commits by weekday and hour, then print a compact heatmap table.
import re
from collections import Counter
from datetime import datetime
def parse_commits(log_text):
"""Parse git log lines and count commits by (weekday, hour)."""
pattern = re.compile(r"^Date:\s+(.+)$")
counts = Counter()
for line in log_text.splitlines():
match = pattern.match(line)
…How to Mock Git Clean Dry Run in Python
Simulate the output of `git clean -n` in Python to preview which untracked files would be removed without actually deleting them.
import subprocess
import sys
def mock_git_clean_dry_run(untracked_files):
"""Simulate `git clean -n` for a given list of untracked files."""
if not untracked_files:
print("No untracked files to remove.")
return
print("Would remove:")
for file in untracked_files:
print(f" {fil…How to Parse git status --porcelain Output in Python
This code runs `git status --porcelain` and parses its output into a list of dictionaries with file paths and status descriptions.
import subprocess
def parse_git_status_porcelain():
try:
output = subprocess.check_output(
["git", "status", "--porcelain"],
text=True,
stderr=subprocess.DEVNULL
)
except (subprocess.CalledProcessError, FileNotFoundError):
return []
entries = …How to Run Git Commands from Python with subprocess
This helper runs `git status --short` and `git log --oneline` from Python, captures their output, and returns readable strings with error handling for non-repo directories.
import subprocess
def git_status():
"""Return a short, human-readable git status."""
try:
output = subprocess.run(
["git", "status", "--short"],
capture_output=True,
text=True,
check=True,
).stdout.strip()
return output if output else "W…Browse by section
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
- Pick a topic section — strings, lists, files, functions, and more
- Open a sample, read How it works, and copy the code block
- 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.