How To Handle Plain Text Files in Python 3

Python is a versatile programming language that is widely used in various domains. It is also a powerful tool for handling text files. In this tutorial, you will learn how to open, read, write, and close plain text files in Python 3.

Prerequisites

To follow this tutorial, you need to have:

• A basic understanding of Python 3
• A text editor, such as Sublime Text or Atom

Opening a Text File

The first step in working with a text file in Python 3 is to open the file. You can do this using the built-in open() function, which takes two arguments: the path to the file and the mode in which to open the file.

The mode can be "r" (read mode), "w" (write mode), "a" (append mode), or "x" (exclusive creation mode).

Here is an example of how to open a text file named "example.txt" in read mode:

file = open("example.txt", "r")

Reading a Text File

Once you have opened a text file, you can read its contents using the read() method. This method reads the entire contents of the file into a single string.

Here is an example of how to read the contents of a text file:

file = open("example.txt", "r")
content = file.read()
print(content)
file.close()

Writing to a Text File

You can write to a text file using the write() method. This method takes a single argument, which is the string you want to write to the file.

Here is an example of how to write to a text file:

file = open("example.txt", "w")
file.write("This is a test.")
file.close()

Closing a Text File

It is important to close a text file when you are finished working with it. You can do this using the close() method.

Here is an example of how to close a text file:

file = open("example.txt", "r")
content = file.read()
print(content)
file.close()

Conclusion

In this tutorial, you learned how to open, read, write, and close plain text files in Python 3. By mastering these basic file-handling operations, you can start building more advanced programs that work with text files.

Keywords: Python 3, Text Files, Handling Files, open(), read(), write(), close(), mode, string.