Pathlib.Path - The Path to Enlightenment (and Better File Management)

Greetings, fellow code warriors! Today, I come to you with an embarrassing confession: I’ve been doing it all wrong. And by “it,” I mean using strings for file paths like someone who’s never tasted the sweet, sweet nectar of object-oriented goodness. 🙈 But fear not, for I have seen the light, and that light is called pathlib.Path. So buckle up, my friends, as I guide you through this wonderful world of file management with Python’s pathlib.Path, while simultaneously questioning my life choices and reminiscing about the old ways. 😅

Pathlib.Path: The Hero We Deserve

Once upon a time, in a land where strings ruled file paths, chaos reigned. We were constantly plagued by slashes, backslashes, and many an os.path.join(). But then, like a beacon of hope, pathlib emerged, offering salvation to those who dared to dream of a better way.

Introduced in Python 3.4, pathlib.Path is an object-oriented approach to dealing with file paths. It provides a more intuitive, efficient, and cross-platform solution for working with paths compared to traditional string manipulation. Say goodbye to the Dark Ages, folks!

A Path Less Traveled

To start our journey towards file management enlightenment, let’s first import the Path class from the pathlib module:

from pathlib import Path

Now, let’s create a simple path object, which I promise is more thrilling than it sounds:

my_path = Path("my_folder/my_subfolder/my_file.txt")

Boom! We’ve got ourselves a path object. And would you look at that, no slashes or backslashes in sight! The Path object automatically takes care of those pesky details for us.

Just for comparison, in the olden days, we’d deal with paths like this:

import os

my_path = os.path.join("my_folder", "my_subfolder", "my_file.txt")

Sure, it works, but it’s nowhere near as elegant or fun as using pathlib.Path.

Globbing All the Way

Now that we’ve got the basics down, let’s talk about pathlib’s glob and rglob methods. They are here to make pattern-based file searching a breeze.

With glob, you can quickly find all files in a directory that match a certain pattern:

for file in my_path.glob("*.txt"):
  print(file)

If you need to search in subdirectories too, just use rglob:

for file in my_path.rglob("*.txt"):
  print(file)

Who knew pattern matching could be so easy and delightful? 🤩

In the old days, we’d use os.path and glob.glob to achieve something similar:

import os
import glob

pattern = os.path.join("my_folder", "my_subfolder", "*.txt")
for file in glob.glob(pattern):
  print(file)

It gets the job done, but it’s more verbose and less intuitive than using pathlib.

Pathlib.Path: The Swiss Army Knife of File Management Here are some nifty tricks you can do with pathlib.Path that will make you question why you ever used strings for file paths:

Get parent directory: With pathlib.Path, it’s as easy as my_path.parent.

Old way: os.path.dirname(my_path)

Join paths: No more fumbling with os.path.join()! Simply use the / operator: my_path / “another_folder”

Old way: os.path.join(my_path, “another_folder”)

Get file name: Fetch the file name with a snazzy my_path.name.

Old way: os.path.basename(my_path)

Get file extension: my_path.suffix is your new best friend.

Old way: os.path.splitext(my_path)[1]

Check for file existence: my_path.exists() lets you know if the file is, well, existent.

Old way: os.path.exists(my_path)

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg, folks!

In Conclusion

Using pathlib.Path over strings for file paths is like discovering a world where unicorns frolic, and your code is free from the tyranny of string concatenation. It’s simply magical. So, join me in embracing this new world order, and let’s leave our string-based file path woes behind. After all, if a mere mortal like me can see the light, so can you!

As always, happy coding, and remember: the Path to greatness is just a few keystrokes away! 😄

Written on April 27, 2023