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46. Reading Text Files

1. Introduction​

Python provides built-in tools to read text files. Reading files is essential for working with stored data.

2. Opening a File​

Use open() with mode 'r' (read).

file = open("example.txt", "r")
content = file.read()
print(content)
file.close()

3. Using with Statement​

Always use with for automatic closing.

with open("example.txt", "r") as f:
    content = f.read()
    print(content)

4. Reading Line by Line​

with open("example.txt", "r") as f:
    for line in f:
        print(line.strip())

5. readlines() Method​

with open("example.txt") as f:
    lines = f.readlines()
print(lines)

6. readline() Method​

with open("example.txt") as f:
    line = f.readline()
    print(line)

7. Handling File Not Found​

try:
    with open("missing.txt") as f:
        print(f.read())
except FileNotFoundError:
    print("File not found")

8. Next Steps​

✅ You now know how to read text files.
Next: Writing text files.