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1. Read File2. Write File3. Append to File4. Read CSV File5. Write CSV File6. JSON Read7. JSON Write8. File Copy9. File Rename10. Read Binary File11. Write Binary File12. Count Words in File13. Count Lines in File14. Count Characters in File15. Search Substring in File16. Iterate File Lines17. File Metadata18. File Compression19. File Decompression20. Delete File

Read File in Python

Read and print the contents of a text file using a context manager.

BeginnerFile Handling ProgramsExample 1 of 20
read-file.py
1# Program to read a text file and print its contents
2

3filename = input("Enter filename: ")
4

5try:
6    with open(filename, "r", encoding="utf-8") as f:
7        contents = f.read()
8        print("File contents:")
9        print(contents)
10except FileNotFoundError:
11    print("File not found.")

Output

Enter filename: sample.txt
File contents:
...file content here...

What's going on

Uses 'with open(..., "r")' to safely read a file and automatically close it, with basic FileNotFoundError handling.

After this program

If the idea is still fuzzy, read Day 14: File Handling in the Python course. For a short check, try the Python quiz (300 questions). Stay with all 20 file handling programs, or see every topic on Python exercises.

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