Automation & scripting
CLI tools, scheduled jobs, filesystem tasks, and glue scripts that save time.
Find Zombie Processes on Linux with Python
Parse the output of `ps -eo pid,stat,comm` to detect processes in zombie state (Z) on a Linux system and report their PIDs and commands.
#!/usr/bin/env python3
import os
import subprocess
def find_zombie_processes():
"""Find zombie processes (state 'Z') running on Linux."""
try:
result = subprocess.run(['ps', '-eo', 'pid,stat,comm'], capture_output=True, text=True, check=True)
zombies = []
for line in result.stdout.stri…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 Detect Applications Consuming Excessive Memory in Python
Use psutil to list the top memory-using processes by RSS and print their names, PIDs, and memory usage in MB.
import psutil
def find_top_memory_processes(limit=5):
"""Return top `limit` processes by memory usage (RSS)."""
processes = []
for proc in psutil.process_iter(['pid', 'name', 'memory_info']):
try:
info = proc.info
mem = info['memory_info'].rss if info['memory_info'] else 0…How to Kill Zombie Processes Matching a Name in Python
Scans running processes with ps, finds zombies whose command name matches a pattern, and attempts to kill them with SIGKILL.
import subprocess
import re
import signal
def find_zombies(name_pattern):
"""Find PIDs of zombie processes matching the given pattern."""
result = subprocess.run(["ps", "-eo", "pid,stat,comm"], capture_output=True, text=True)
zombies = []
for line in result.stdout.splitlines()[1:]: # Skip header
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Automation & scripting — Python code examples
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This page collects automation & scripting snippets — short, copy-ready Python you can paste into our free online IDE and run without installing anything. Each sample includes a plain-English explanation and the full source code.
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