Python open file with with statement

Apr 1, 2014

It is good practice to use the with keyword when dealing with file objects. This has the advantage that the file is properly closed after its suite finishes, even if an exception is raised on the way. It is also much shorter than writing equivalent try-finally blocks.

In [1]: with open('/tmp/test','r') as f1:
   ...:     print f1.read()
   ...:     
hello, python


In [2]: f1.closed
Out[2]: True

In [3]: f2 = open('/tmp/test', 'r')

In [4]: print f2.read()
hello, python


In [5]: f2.closed
Out[5]: False

Also see PEP 343 -- The "with" Statement

python