file-paths.md

Python by Example: File Paths

pathlib.Path provides an object-oriented API for file paths. Use / to join paths—it works across Windows and Unix. Use .exists(), .is_file(), .is_dir() to check paths; use .read_text() and .write_text() for simple file I/O. Prefer pathlib over string concatenation for paths.

What you'll learn:

• Creating and joining paths with Path
• Path properties: name, stem, suffix, parent
• Creating directories with mkdir()

from pathlib import Path

# Current directory
p = Path(".")
print(p.resolve())

# Join paths
file_path = Path("/tmp") / "data" / "file.txt"
print(file_path)

# Path properties
print(file_path.name)
print(file_path.stem)
print(file_path.suffix)
print(file_path.parent)

# Create parent directories
Path("/tmp/egpython/demo").mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)

Path("a") / "b" / "c.txt" works on any OS. parents=True creates intermediate directories; exist_ok=True doesn't error if they already exist.

To run this program:

$ python source/file-paths.py
/Users/you/egpython          # your current directory (varies)
/tmp/data/file.txt
file.txt
file
.txt
/tmp/data

The first line is your current working directory; it depends on where you run the script.

Tip: Use Path.home() for the user's home directory and Path.cwd() for the current working directory.

Try it: Build a path to a file in a subdirectory and print its stem and suffix.

Source: file-paths.py

Next: Directories