Files & data
Read and write files safely; parse JSON, CSV, and common text formats.
Audit File Permissions Across a Project in Python
Walks through every file and directory in a project tree and prints POSIX permissions plus owner UID.
import os
import stat
from pathlib import Path
def audit_file_permissions(project_root):
"""Walk through project_root and print path, owner, and permissions for every file."""
results = []
for root, dirs, files in os.walk(project_root):
for name in files + dirs:
full_path = os.path.joi…
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…
Compare Two Folder Structures and Find Differences in Python
Walks two directories using os.walk, builds sets of relative paths, and prints items that exist in only one folder.
import os
def compare_folders(path1, path2):
"""
Compare the file/folder structure of two directories and print differences.
"""
def get_structure(root):
structure = set()
for dirpath, dirnames, filenames in os.walk(root):
rel_path = os.path.relpath(dirpath, root)
…
Convert File Data to a Dictionary in Python
This function scans a directory and converts each file's metadata (name, size, extension) into a structured dictionary for easy access.
from pathlib import Path
def convert_files_data(directory: str) -> dict:
data = {}
base = Path(directory)
if not base.exists():
return data
for file in base.iterdir():
if file.is_file():
data[file.name] = {
"size": file.stat().st_size,
"exten…
Create a ZIP Archive of a Folder in Python
Recursively zip all files in a folder into a single archive using the standard library zipfile and pathlib modules.
import zipfile
from pathlib import Path
def zip_folder(source_dir: str, archive_path: str) -> None:
"""Zip all files in source_dir recursively into archive_path."""
source = Path(source_dir)
with zipfile.ZipFile(archive_path, "w", zipfile.ZIP_DEFLATED) as archive:
for file_path in source.rglob("*"…
Download Files from Internet with Progress Bar in Python
Download a file from the internet while displaying a text progress bar in the terminal.
import urllib.request
import sys
def download_with_progress(url, filename):
"""Download a file with a simple text progress bar."""
def report_hook(block_count, block_size, total_size):
downloaded = block_count * block_size
if total_size > 0:
percent = min(100, int(downloaded * 100 …
How to Automatically Extract Every Archive in a Folder with Python
Walk through a folder and extract all ZIP, RAR, and 7Z archives into separate subdirectories using Python.
import zipfile
import rarfile
import py7zr
import pathlib
def extract_archives(folder: str):
"""Extract every ZIP, RAR, and 7Z archive in the given folder."""
folder_path = pathlib.Path(folder)
for archive_file in folder_path.iterdir():
suffix = archive_file.suffix.lower()
try:
…
How to Automatically Merge Hundreds of Excel Files Without Losing Formatting in Python
Merge all .xlsx files in a folder into a single Excel workbook, preserving individual sheet structures with sheet name prefixes.
import pandas as pd
from pathlib import Path
def merge_excel_files(folder_path: str, output_path: str) -> None:
"""
Merge all .xlsx files in a folder into a single Excel file,
preserving individual sheet structures.
"""
folder = Path(folder_path)
excel_files = list(folder.glob("*.xlsx"))
…
How to Bulk Insert Rows into SQLite in Python
Insert many rows into an SQLite table in one call with cursor.executemany, then verify them with a SELECT query.
import sqlite3
# Create an in-memory database and a table
conn = sqlite3.connect(":memory:")
cursor = conn.cursor()
cursor.execute("CREATE TABLE products (name TEXT, price REAL, quantity INTEGER)")
# Data to insert in bulk
products = [
("Laptop", 999.99, 5),
("Mouse", 19.99, 50),
("Keyboard", 49.99, 30),…
How to Compress a String to Gzip Bytes in Python
Compress a string into gzip-compressed bytes entirely in memory using the standard library gzip module.
import gzip
def compress_to_gzip_bytes(data: str, encoding: str = "utf-8") -> bytes:
"""Compress a string to gzip-compressed bytes in memory."""
return gzip.compress(data.encode(encoding))
if __name__ == "__main__":
original = "Hello, world! " * 10
compressed = compress_to_gzip_bytes(original)
pr…
How to Convert CSV Column Types While Reading in Python
Read a CSV file and automatically convert column values to int, float, str, or bool based on type suffixes in the header names.
import csv
from pathlib import Path
from typing import Any
def read_csv_with_types(filepath: str) -> list[dict[str, Any]]:
"""Read CSV and convert column types based on header suffixes."""
converters = {
"int": int,
"float": float,
"str": str,
"bool": lambda v: v.strip().lower(…
How to Extract IP Address Counts from Access Logs in Python
Read a web server access log, count occurrences of each IP address using regex and Counter, and print the ranked results.
import re
from collections import Counter
from pathlib import Path
def extract_ip_counts(log_file_path):
ip_pattern = r'^(\d{1,3}\.\d{1,3}\.\d{1,3}\.\d{1,3})'
ip_counter = Counter()
with open(log_file_path, 'r') as file:
for line in file:
match = re.match(ip_pattern, line)
…
How to List Tar Archive Contents in Python
Open a tar archive with the stdlib tarfile module and print each entry's type, size, and name.
import tarfile
from pathlib import Path
def list_tar_contents(archive_path):
"""List all entries in a tar archive."""
entries = []
with tarfile.open(archive_path, "r") as tar:
for member in tar.getmembers():
entry_type = "dir" if member.isdir() else "file"
entries.append(f"…
How to Memory Map Large Files Read-Only in Python
This code demonstrates reading only the tail of a large file using a read-only memory map (mmap) to avoid loading the entire file into memory.
import mmap
import os
def read_tail_with_mmap(filepath, bytes_from_end=64):
"""Read the last bytes of a large file using a read-only mmap."""
file_size = os.path.getsize(filepath)
start = max(0, file_size - bytes_from_end)
with open(filepath, "rb") as f:
with mmap.mmap(f.fileno(), length=0, a…
How to Merge Environment-Specific Config JSON in Python
Loads a base JSON config and overlays environment-specific overrides, merging the two dictionaries into one final config.
import json
import pathlib
def load_config(base_path: pathlib.Path, env: str) -> dict:
base_config = json.loads(base_path.read_text())
env_path = base_path.with_name(f"config.{env}.json")
if env_path.exists():
env_config = json.loads(env_path.read_text())
return {**base_config, **env_conf…
How to Merge Sorted Chunk Files in Python
Merge multiple sorted text files into one sorted output file using a heap for efficient k-way merging.
import heapq
def merge_sorted_chunks(chunks, output_path):
"""Merge multiple sorted iterables into single sorted output file."""
with open(output_path, "w") as out_f:
# Open all chunk files
handles = [open(chunk, "r") for chunk in chunks]
try:
# Heap of (value, index) tupl…
How to Parse Apache Log Files in Python
Parse Apache common log format lines into structured dictionaries using Python's standard library.
import re
from pathlib import Path
def parse_apache_line(line):
pattern = r'^(\S+) (\S+) (\S+) \[([^\]]+)\] "(\S+) (\S+) (\S+)" (\d{3}) (\S+)'
match = re.match(pattern, line)
if not match:
return None
ip, ident, user, timestamp, method, path, protocol, status, size = match.groups()
return …
How to Parse NDJSON Lines into a List in Python
Reads a JSON-lines (NDJSON) file line by line and converts each non-empty line into a Python object, returning a list.
import json
from pathlib import Path
def parse_ndjson(file_path: str) -> list:
data = []
with Path(file_path).open("r", encoding="utf-8") as f:
for line in f:
line = line.strip()
if line:
data.append(json.loads(line))
return data
if __name__ == "__main__"…
How to Parse Path Components with pathlib Path in Python
Parse a file path into parent directory, filename, stem, suffix, and parts using the standard library pathlib module.
from pathlib import Path
if __name__ == "__main__":
p = Path("data/reports/2024/final.txt")
print(f"Path: {p}")
print(f"Parent: {p.parent}")
print(f"Name: {p.name}")
print(f"Stem: {p.stem}")
print(f"Suffix: {p.suffix}")
print(f"Parts: {p.parts}")
print(f"Anchor: {p.anchor}")
print(…
How to Parse XML Attributes into a Flat Dictionary in Python
Parses XML elements and attributes using ElementTree, building a flat dictionary keyed by element attributes.
import xml.etree.ElementTree as ET
xml_data = """<root>
<book id="1" category="fiction" price="9.99">
<title>The Catcher</title>
</book>
<book id="2" category="nonfiction" price="12.50">
<title>Deep Learning</title>
</book>
</root>"""
def parse_xml_attributes(xml_string):
root = E…
How to Read a JSON File into a Dictionary in Python
Load a JSON file into a Python dictionary using the json.load() function with proper file handling and UTF-8 encoding.
import json
from pathlib import Path
def read_json_file(filepath: str) -> dict:
"""Read a JSON file and return its contents as a dictionary."""
path = Path(filepath)
with path.open("r", encoding="utf-8") as f:
data = json.load(f)
return data
if __name__ == "__main__":
# Create a sample JS…
How to Read a TSV File in Python with csv.DictReader
Read a tab-separated (TSV) file into dictionaries using the csv module's DictReader with a tab delimiter.
import csv
from pathlib import Path
data_file = Path("data.tsv")
# Sample TSV content (tab-separated)
sample = """name\tage\tcity
Alice\t30\tNew York
Bob\t25\tLos Angeles
Carol\t35\tChicago
"""
data_file.write_text(sample)
with data_file.open("r", newline="", encoding="utf-8") as f:
reader = csv.DictReader(f, d…
How to Read a Text File Line by Line in Python
Reads a text file line by line with an enumerated for loop and prints each line number and content.
from pathlib import Path
def read_lines(file_path):
with open(file_path, 'r', encoding='utf-8') as file:
for line_number, line in enumerate(file, start=1):
print(f"Line {line_number}: {line.rstrip()}")
if __name__ == "__main__":
sample_file = Path("sample.txt")
sample_file.write_text(…
How to Split Files by Extension in Python
Group files in a folder by their file extension into a dictionary using pathlib.
from pathlib import Path
def split_files_by_extension(folder_path):
folder = Path(folder_path)
files_by_ext = {}
for file_path in folder.iterdir():
if file_path.is_file():
ext = file_path.suffix.lower() or "no_extension"
files_by_ext.setdefault(ext, []).append(file_path.na…
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