.read()
Published May 10, 2021Updated Jun 10, 2022
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The .read()
file method allows the user to read the contents of an open file and return the number of associated bytes.
Syntax
file.read(size)
The size
argument is optional and specifies the number of characters (or bytes) to read. The default size
is -1, which means the whole file will be read.
Example
The following example reads the full contents of the lorem_ipsum.txt file:
f = open("lorem_ipsum.txt", "w")f.write("Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.")f.close()f = open("lorem_ipsum.txt", "r", encoding='utf8')read_data = f.read()print(read_data)f.close()
This will print the following:
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
Codebyte Example
The example below reads the first 100 characters of the gullivers_travels.txt file:
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