How do I Delete Files and Folders in Python?

Deleting Files and Folders in Python

When working with files and folders in Python, it is often convenient to be able to delete them. Here are three common ways to do so:

1. Using pathlib

The pathlib module provides a cross-platform way to work with file paths. It offers the following two methods for deletion:

• Path.unlink(): Removes a file or symbolic link.
• Path.rmdir(): Removes an empty directory.

2. Using shutil

The shutil module provides a collection of utility functions for working with files and folders. It offers the rmtree() function for deleting a directory and all its contents recursively.

3. Using os

For Python versions 3.3 and below, you can use the following methods from the os module:

• os.remove(): Removes a file.
• os.unlink(): Removes a symbolic link.
• os.rmdir(): Removes an empty directory.

Usage Examples:

To delete a file named "myfile.txt" using pathlib, you can use the following code:

import pathlib

path = pathlib.Path("myfile.txt")
path.unlink()

To delete a directory named "my_directory" using shutil, you can use the following code:

import shutil

shutil.rmtree("my_directory")

To delete a symbolic link named "my_link" using os.unlink(), you can use the following code:

import os

os.unlink("my_link")

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