How to open a file using Python?

The key function for working with files in Python is the open() function.

The open() function takes two parameters; filename, and mode.

There are four different methods (modes) for opening a file:

"r" – Read – Default value. Opens a file for reading, error if the file does not exist

"a" – Append – Opens a file for appending, creates the file if it does not exist

"w" – Write – Opens a file for writing, creates the file if it does not exist

"x" – Create – Creates the specified file, returns an error if the file exists

In addition you can specify if the file should be handled as binary or text mode

"t" – Text – Default value. Text mode

"b" – Binary – Binary mode (e.g. images)

To open a file for reading it is enough to specify the name of the file:

f = open(“demofile.txt”)

The code above is the same as:

f = open(“demofile.txt”, “rt”)

Because "r" for read, and "t" for text are the default values, you do not need to specify them.

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