What's the Best Practice for Writing a Line to a File in Python?

Writing a Line to a File: Best Practices

In contemporary Python, the preferred method of writing a line to a file has undergone a shift from the deprecated print >>f, "hi there". This article will guide you through the correct approach, as well as address the compatibility of line terminators across different platforms.

Writing to a File (with Line Termination)

The Pythonic way to write a line to a file while ensuring proper line termination is through the open() function:

with open('somefile.txt', 'a') as the_file:
    the_file.write('Hello\n')

Line Terminator Compatibility

Regarding line terminators, the official Python documentation strongly recommends against using os.linesep within text files. Instead, use a consistent single newline character ('n') across all platforms. This ensures the highest degree of compatibility and portability.

Note: The mode specified in open() is crucial. For appending to an existing file, use 'a'. If you desire to write a file from scratch, 'w' is appropriate.

Additional Resources

For further reference, delve into these useful resources:

• [The with statement](https://docs.python.org/3/reference/compound_stmts.html#the-with-statement)
• [Open function](https://docs.python.org/3/library/functions.html#open)
• [OS Module](https://docs.python.org/3/library/os.html#os.linesep)

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