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Automatically Detect Corrupted Files Using SHA-256 Checksums in Python
Compute SHA-256 checksums of files and compare them to detect corruption in Python.
import hashlib
import os
def compute_sha256(filepath: str) -> str:
"""Compute SHA-256 checksum of a file."""
sha256 = hashlib.sha256()
with open(filepath, 'rb') as f:
for chunk in iter(lambda: f.read(4096), b''):
sha256.update(chunk)
return sha256.hexdigest()
def validate_file_int…
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.
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…
How to Compute File SHA256 Hash with hashlib in Python
Compute the SHA256 hash of a file by reading it in chunks with hashlib and Path.open.
import hashlib
from pathlib import Path
def sha256_file(file_path: Path) -> str:
sha256_hash = hashlib.sha256()
with file_path.open("rb") as f:
for chunk in iter(lambda: f.read(4096), b""):
sha256_hash.update(chunk)
return sha256_hash.hexdigest()
if __name__ == "__main__":
demo_fi…
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.
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…
How to hash a prompt with SHA-256 in Python
Create a SHA-256 hex fingerprint of a prompt string, with a short-prefix variant for quick references.
import hashlib
def prompt_hash_fingerprint(prompt: str) -> str:
"""Return the full SHA-256 hex digest of the prompt."""
return hashlib.sha256(prompt.encode("utf-8")).hexdigest()
def short_fingerprint(prompt: str, length: int = 12) -> str:
"""Return a short prefix of the SHA-256 digest for quick reference…
Build a Python Utility That Verifies Backup Integrity Automatically
Automatically compute and verify SHA-256 checksums of backup files using a JSON manifest to detect missing or corrupted data.
import hashlib
import os
import json
def compute_checksum(filepath, algorithm='sha256'):
"""Compute checksum for the given file."""
hash_func = hashlib.new(algorithm)
with open(filepath, 'rb') as f:
for chunk in iter(lambda: f.read(4096), b''):
hash_func.update(chunk)
return hash_f…
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.
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 …
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.
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…
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…
How to Build an Idempotency-Key POST Handler in Python
Python HTTP server mock that accepts POST requests and deduplicates them using an Idempotency-Key header, returning the same response for repeated calls.
import hashlib
import json
from http.server import BaseHTTPRequestHandler, HTTPServer
from urllib.parse import urlparse
class MockAPI(BaseHTTPRequestHandler):
responses = {}
def do_POST(self):
length = int(self.headers.get("Content-Length", 0))
body = self.rfile.read(length).decode("utf-8")
…
Verify Webhook HMAC Signatures in Python
Create and verify HMAC-SHA256 signatures for webhook payloads using Python's hmac module, protecting against tampering.
import hashlib
import hmac
import json
SECRET = b"super-secret-webhook-key"
def create_signature(payload: bytes) -> str:
return hmac.new(SECRET, payload, hashlib.sha256).hexdigest()
def verify_signature(payload: bytes, signature: str) -> bool:
expected = create_signature(payload)
return hmac.compare_dig…
How to Build a Bloom Filter to Reduce Cache Misses in Python
Implement a probabilistic Bloom filter in Python that lets a cache quickly determine which keys are definitely not present, reducing expensive source lookups on cache misses.
import hashlib
import random
class BloomFilter:
def __init__(self, size=100, num_hashes=3):
self.size = size
self.num_hashes = num_hashes
self.bit_array = [0] * size
def _hashes(self, item):
result = []
for i in range(self.num_hashes):
hash_value = int(hash…
Partition Data by Hash Key Mod N in Python
Returns a partition index for a string key by hashing it with MD5 and taking modulo N, then groups sample keys into partitions.
import hashlib
def partition_key(key: str, num_partitions: int) -> int:
"""Return partition index for key using MD5 hash mod N."""
digest = hashlib.md5(key.encode()).hexdigest()
return int(digest, 16) % num_partitions
if __name__ == "__main__":
keys = ["alice", "bob", "carol", "dave", "eve"]
nu…
How to Create and Verify HMAC SHA256 API Signatures in Python
Generate and verify HMAC-SHA256 signatures for API requests using Python's hmac, hashlib, and base64 modules.
import hmac
import hashlib
import base64
import json
from datetime import datetime, timezone
def create_api_signature(secret_key: str, method: str, path: str, timestamp: str, body: dict = None) -> str:
"""Create HMAC-SHA256 signature for API request."""
payload = {
"method": method.upper(),
"p…
How to Generate and Verify HMAC Signatures in Python
Create and validate HMAC-SHA256 signatures with a shared secret key using Python's hmac and hashlib modules.
import hashlib
import hmac
SECRET_KEY = b"pepper-secret-2024"
def generate_hmac(message: str) -> str:
return hmac.new(SECRET_KEY, message.encode("utf-8"), hashlib.sha256).hexdigest()
def verify_hmac(message: str, received_hmac: str) -> bool:
expected = generate_hmac(message)
return hmac.compare_digest(e…
How to Salt Passwords per User in Python
Hash each user's password with a unique random salt using hashlib, and verify logins with timing-safe comparison.
import hashlib
import secrets
def hash_password(password: str, salt: str | None = None) -> tuple[str, str]:
"""Hash a password with a random salt (or provided salt).
Returns:
(salt_hex, password_hash_hex)
"""
if salt is None:
salt = secrets.token_hex(16)
salted = (salt + password)…
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