Python open Function with Examples

The open function in Python is utilized to open a file, producing an associated file object in return.

Python open Function Syntax

It has the following syntax:

open(file, mode='r', buffering=-1, encoding=None, errors=None, newline=None, closefd=True, opener=None)

Parameters

Python open function has several parameters:

• ✅ file : It is a path like object giving the pathname of the file to be opened.
• ✅ mode (optional): It specifies the mode in which the file is opened. If not provided, it defaults to 'r' which means open for reading in text mode.
• ✅ buffering (optional): It is used to set buffering policy.
• ✅ encoding (optional): It is a name of the encoding to encode or decode the file.
• ✅ errors (optional): A string that specify how to handle encoding/decoding errors.
• ✅ newline (optional): It controls how newlines mode works (available values: None, ' ', '\n', 'r', and '\r\n'
• ✅ closefd (optional): It must be True (default) if given otherwise an exception will be raised.
• ✅ opener (optional): a custom opener; must return an open file descriptor.

Return

It provides a file object that can be utilized for reading, writing, and altering the contents of a file.

Different Examples for Python open function

In this section, we will explore multiple instances of the Python open function.

Python open Function Example 1

The following illustration demonstrates the process of opening a file using Python.

# opens python.text file of the current directory

f = open("python.txt")

# specifying full path

f = open("C:/Python33/README.txt")

Output:

Since the mode is omitted, the file is opened in 'r' mode; opens for reading.

Python open Function Example 2

The following example demonstrates how to specify the mode in the open function in Python.

# file opens for read

f = open("path_to_file", mode='r')

# file opens for write

f = open("path_to_file", mode = 'w')

# file opens for writing to the end

f = open("path_to_file", mode = 'a')

Output:

f = open("path_to_file", mode = 'r', encoding='utf-8')

Explanation:

In the preceding illustration, we indicate various modes ('r', 'w', 'a') that can be utilized when accessing a file.