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How to read a text file in Python

How to read a text file in Python.

Here is a detailed step-by-step tutorial on how to read a text file in Python.

Step 1: Open the file​

The first step is to open the text file that you want to read. In Python, you can use the open() function to open a file. The open() function takes two arguments: the file name and the mode in which you want to open the file. To open a file for reading, you need to pass 'r' as the mode.

file = open('myfile.txt', 'r')

In the above example, we are opening a file called myfile.txt in read mode.

Step 2: Read the file​

Once the file is open, you can read its contents. There are different methods you can use to read the file, depending on your needs:

Method 1: Read the entire file​

If you want to read the entire file at once, you can use the read() method. This method returns a string containing the contents of the file.

content = file.read()

In the above example, we are reading the entire file and storing its contents in the content variable.

Method 2: Read line by line​

If you want to read the file line by line, you can use a loop. The readline() method reads one line at a time and moves the file pointer to the next line.

for line in file:
    print(line)

In the above example, we are using a for loop to iterate over each line in the file and print it.

Method 3: Read all lines into a list​

You can also read all lines of the file into a list using the readlines() method. Each line is stored as an element in the list.

lines = file.readlines()

In the above example, we are storing all the lines of the file in the lines list.

Step 3: Close the file​

After you have finished reading the file, it is important to close it using the close() method. This ensures that any system resources used by the file are freed.

file.close()

In the above example, we are closing the file.

Full Example​

Here is a complete example that demonstrates all the steps discussed above:

# Step 1: Open the file
file = open('myfile.txt', 'r')

# Step 2: Read the file
content = file.read()

# OR
for line in file:
    print(line)

# OR
lines = file.readlines()


# Step 3: Close the file
file.close()

Make sure to replace 'myfile.txt' with the actual name of your text file.

That's it! You now know how to read a text file in Python.