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Python Code Samples

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

308 matches
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
    "…
36 0 Open
Automation & scripting easy

How to Create a File Organizer That Sorts Files Automatically in Python

A Python script that scans a given folder, categorizes files by extension (Images, Documents, Audio, Video, Archives, Misc), and moves them into subfolders automatically.

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

FILE_CATEGORIES = {
    "Images": [".jpg", ".jpeg", ".png", ".gif", ".bmp"],
    "Documents": [".pdf", ".docx", ".txt", ".csv", ".xlsx"],
    "Audio": [".mp3", ".wav", ".flac", ".aac"],
    "Video": [".mp4", ".mkv", ".avi", ".mov"],
    "Archives": [".zip", ".tar", ".g…
46 0 Open
Automation & scripting easy

How to Create a Password Protected Zip Archive in Python

Generate a password-protected zip archive and verify password correctness using the standard library zipfile module.

zipfile password encryption
Python
import zipfile
import tempfile
import os


def create_password_protected_zip(zip_path, password: str, files: dict):
    """
    Create a zip archive with password protection (mock encryption).

    Args:
        zip_path: Path where the zip file will be created
        password: Password for the archive
        files:…
13 0 Open
Automation & scripting easy

How to Decrypt a GPG File with a Passphrase in Python

Decrypt a GPG-encrypted file using a passphrase via the gpg CLI wrapped in a reusable Python function.

gpg encryption subprocess
Python
import subprocess
import tempfile
from pathlib import Path


def decrypt_gpg_file(input_file: str, passphrase: str) -> str:
    """Decrypt a GPG file using a passphrase and return the plaintext."""
    result = subprocess.run(
        ["gpg", "--batch", "--yes", "--passphrase", passphrase, "--decrypt", input_file],
  …
13 0 Open
Automation & scripting medium

How to Detect Unused Images in a Project with Python

A Python script that scans a website project folder, identifies all image files, and checks HTML/CSS/JS files to find which images are never referenced.

automation files regex
Python
import os
import re
from pathlib import Path

def find_unused_images(project_path):
    image_exts = {'.png', '.jpg', '.jpeg', '.gif', '.svg', '.webp'}
    used_images = set()
    all_images = set()
    
    # Find all image files
    for root, _, files in os.walk(project_path):
        for file in files:
            …
39 0 Open
Automation & scripting medium

How to Download a GitHub Repository as a ZIP File in Python

Download any public GitHub repository as a ZIP file using the GitHub API and Python's requests and zipfile modules.

github download zip
Python
import requests
import zipfile
import io
import os

def download_github_repo_as_zip(repo_url, output_path='.'):
    """
    Download a GitHub repository as a ZIP file.
    
    Args:
        repo_url (str): Full GitHub repository URL (e.g., 'https://github.com/username/repo')
        output_path (str): Directory to sa…
35 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…
17 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 Generate a QR Code in Python

Generate a QR code image from a URL string using the qrcode library and save it as a PNG file.

qrcode automation image-generation
Python
import qrcode

# Data to encode
data = "https://www.example.com"

# Create QR code instance
qr = qrcode.QRCode(
    version=1,
    error_correction=qrcode.constants.ERROR_CORRECT_L,
    box_size=10,
    border=4,
)

# Add data to QR code
qr.add_data(data)
qr.make(fit=True)

# Create an image from the QR code
img = qr.…
38 0 Open
Automation & scripting easy

How to Generate an Inventory CSV of Installed pip Packages in Python

This script uses subprocess and csv to list all installed pip packages and write their names and versions into a CSV inventory file.

pip csv subprocess
Python
import subprocess
import csv

def get_installed_packages():
    """Return a list of (name, version) tuples for installed pip packages."""
    result = subprocess.run(
        ["pip", "list", "--format=freeze"],
        capture_output=True,
        text=True,
        check=True
    )
    packages = []
    for line in r…
14 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 Import Users from CSV into LDAP-like Dicts in Python

Reads a CSV of user records and converts each row into an LDAP-style dictionary with standard attributes using Python's csv module.

csv ldap import
Python
import csv
import io
from pathlib import Path


def mock_ldap_import(csv_path):
    """
    Reads a CSV file with user data and returns a list of LDAP-like user dicts.
    Adds standard LDAP attributes that would come from directory schema.
    """
    with open(csv_path, newline="", encoding="utf-8") as csvfile:
    …
15 0 Open
Automation & scripting easy

How to Map Network Drive Paths to Local Paths in Python

Convert mock SMB network drive paths (like 'S:\reports\q1.xlsx') to local placeholder paths and back using a simple mapping dictionary in Python.

network path-mapping smb
Python
"""Map mock SMB network drive paths to local placeholder paths."""
from dataclasses import dataclass

@dataclass(frozen=True)
class NetworkDrive:
    letter: str
    remote_path: str

DRIVES = {
    "S:": NetworkDrive("S", r"\\server01\shares\sales"),
    "M:": NetworkDrive("M", r"\\server02\media\movies"),
    "X:": …
15 0 Open
Automation & scripting easy

How to Merge PDFs in Python (Mock pypdf Stub)

Merge PDF files by concatenating their raw byte content using a simple stubbed class that mimics the pypdf interface.

pdf merge mock
Python
import io
from hashlib import sha256


class PdfStub:
    def __init__(self, data: bytes, name: str):
        self.data = data
        self.name = name

    def get_content_bytes(self) -> bytes:
        return self.data


def merge_pdfs_mock(pdf_stubs) -> bytes:
    merged = io.BytesIO()
    for stub in pdf_stubs:
   …
15 0 Open
Automation & scripting easy

How to Mock an Ansible Inventory in Python

Load an Ansible-style inventory JSON file into Python and simulate a playbook run across hosts and groups.

ansible inventory automation
Python
import json
from pathlib import Path


class InventoryMock:
    def __init__(self, inventory_file: str):
        self.inventory_file = Path(inventory_file)
        self.hosts = {}

    def load(self):
        if not self.inventory_file.exists():
            raise FileNotFoundError(f"Inventory file {self.inventory_file…
12 0 Open
Automation & scripting medium

How to Monitor Laptop Battery Health Over Time in Python

Log battery percentage, power status, and remaining time every N seconds to a JSON file using psutil for ongoing health monitoring.

psutil battery monitoring
Python
import time
import json
from pathlib import Path
from datetime import datetime

try:
    import psutil
except ImportError:
    print("psutil required: pip install psutil")
    exit(1)

LOG_FILE = Path("battery_health_log.json")

def monitor_battery(log_interval=60, duration=300):
    """Log battery percentage and rema…
40 0 Open
Automation & scripting easy

How to Quarantine Suspicious Files in Python

Move files with suspicious extensions to a quarantine folder using pathlib and shutil for safe isolation.

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

def quarantine_files(source_dir, quarantine_dir, suspicious_extensions):
    """
    Move files with suspicious extensions to a quarantine folder.
    Returns list of moved files.
    """
    source_path = Path(source_dir)
    quarantine_path = Path(quarantine_dir)
   …
11 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 easy

How to Resize Hundreds of Images in Batch with Python

Resize every image in a folder to a target size using Pillow, creating a new subfolder for processed files.

image processing batch processing pillow
Python
import os
from PIL import Image

def resize_images_in_batch(directory, output_size=(800, 600)):
    if not os.path.exists(directory):
        print(f"Directory {directory} does not exist.")
        return
    output_dir = os.path.join(directory, "resized")
    os.makedirs(output_dir, exist_ok=True)
    for filename in…
41 0 Open
Automation & scripting easy

How to Save a VM Snapshot State to a JSON File in Python

Define a dataclass for a VM snapshot and serialize it to a JSON file, then reload it to verify the state.

json dataclass files
Python
import json
from dataclasses import dataclass, asdict
from pathlib import Path


@dataclass
class VMSnapshot:
    name: str
    memory_mb: int
    disk_gb: int
    state: str = "saved"

    def snapshot_to_file(self, path: Path) -> str:
        """Write snapshot state to a JSON file and return the filename."""
       …
13 0 Open
Automation & scripting medium

How to Scan Configuration Files for Security Issues in Python

Automatically scan configuration files for common security mistakes using regex rules in Python.

security config regex
Python
import re
import os
from pathlib import Path

SECURITY_RULES = [
    (r'^#\s*INSECURE_', 'Insecure comment starts with # INSECURE_'),
    (r'password\s*=\s*("|\\\')?[^"\\\'"\s]+("|\\\')?$', 'Hardcoded password'),
    (r'debug\s*=\s*True', 'Debug mode enabled'),
    (r'[Pp]ermit[Rr]ootLogin\s+yes', 'PermitRootLogin ena…
49 0 Open
Automation & scripting easy

How to Scan Files Against a Malware Hash List in Python

Compare a file's SHA-256 hash against a known malware hash set and report whether it's clean or infected.

hashlib file-scanning security
Python
import hashlib
from pathlib import Path

# Mock file content (in real usage, read from disk)
MOCK_FILE_CONTENT = b"print('hello world')"

KNOWN_MALWARE_HASHES = {
    "8d969eef6ecad3c29a3a629280e686cf0c3f5d5a86aff3ca12020c923adc6c92",
    "5e884898da28047151d0e56f8dc6292773603d0d6aabbdd62a11ef721d1542d8",
}

def sha25…
14 0 Open
Automation & scripting easy

How to Split PDF Pages into Ranges in Python

Simulates splitting a PDF into page ranges by validating and returning structured range splits for automation workflows.

pdf automation file-processing
Python
import os

def split_pdf_ranges(pdf_name, num_pages, ranges):
    """
    Simulates splitting a PDF by returning the page ranges that would be split.

    Args:
        pdf_name (str): Name of the PDF file.
        num_pages (int): Total number of pages in the PDF.
        ranges (list of tuple): List of (start, end) …
13 0 Open

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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.