How to Write File in Python

Writing to a file in Python is a common operation that allows you to store data in a file for later use. Whether you are working with a simple text file or a more complex binary file, Python provides a number of ways to write data to a file.

In this article we will discuss the following methods for writing files in Python:

Advertisement

• write() method
• writelines() method
• bytes() method
• print() method

Let’s discuss each method one by one.

1. Using `write()` method

One of the simplest ways to write to a file in Python is using the `write()` method of a file object. To use the `write()` method, you first need to open the file in write mode using the `open()` function. You can use the ‘w’ mode parameter to open the file in write mode.

Here is an example of how to use the write() method to write a single line of text to a file:

In this example, the file `myfile.txt` is opened in write mode using the ‘w’ mode parameter. The file is then opened using a `with` statement, which ensures that the file is properly closed after the operations inside the `with` block are completed.

Inside the with block, the `write()` method is used to write a single line of text to the file. The `write()` method takes a string as an argument and writes it to the file. In this example, the string ‘This is the first line of text in the file.\n’ is written to the file.

Note that when you open a file in write mode, any existing content in the file is overwritten. This means that if the file already contains data, that data will be deleted when you open the file in write mode.

2. Using `writelines()` method

You can also use the `writelines()` method to write multiple lines of text to a file at once. The `writelines()` method takes a list of strings as an argument, and writes each string in the list to the file, with a newline character added after each string.

Here is an example of using the `writelines()` method to write multiple lines of text to a file:

In this example, the strings ‘This is the first line.\n’ and ‘This is the second line.\n’ are written to the file myfile.txt.

3. Using `bytes()` function

It’s also possible to write binary data to a file in Python. To do this, you can use the `write()` method of a file object in conjunction with the `bytes()` function. The `bytes()` function allows you to convert a string of data into a sequence of bytes, which can then be written to a file using the `write()` method.

Here is an example of writing binary data to a file in Python:

4. Using `print()` method

In addition to the `write()` and `writelines()` methods, Python also provides the `print()` function as a convenient way to write data to a file. The print() function allows you to write data to a file by redirecting the output of the function to a file using the file keyword argument.

Here is an example of using the `print()` function to write data to a file:

In this example, the file `myfile.txt` is opened in write mode using the ‘w’ mode parameter. The print() function is then used to write the string ‘This is the first line of text in the file.’ to the file. The file keyword argument is used to specify the file object to which the output should be written.

Here is an example of using the print() function to write multiple lines of text to a file:

In this example, the `sep` keyword argument is used to specify the string that should be used to separate the lines of text. The ‘\n’ string is used to indicate that a newline character should be inserted between the lines of text.

Conclusion

Overall, Python provides a number of ways to write data to a file, including the write() and writelines() methods of a file object, as well as the print() function. Whether you are working with simple text files or more complex binary files, Python makes it easy to write data to a file and store it for later use.