python open built-in function: difference between modes a, a+, w, w+

+4 A:

the opening modes are exacltly the same that C fopen() std library function.

AlberT 2009-09-23 13:33:20

I believe you mean the fopen call in the C standard library (which is not a system call)

Eli Courtwright 2009-09-23 13:34:08

+2 A:

The options are the same as for the fopen function in the C standard library:

w truncates the file, overwriting whatever was already there

a appends to the file, adding onto whatever was already there

w+ opens for reading and writing, truncating the file but also allowing you to read back what's been written to the file

a+ opens for appending and reading, allowing you both to append to the file and also read its contents

Eli Courtwright 2009-09-23 13:33:37

+1 A:

What these flags means is explained in the documentation. http://docs.python.org/library/functions.html#open

Lennart Regebro 2009-09-23 13:54:44

always going to upvote the answer that references the language itself, -- and not some other esoteric pretender ;)

KevinDTimm 2009-09-23 14:14:21

@kevindtimm: What do you do for a question which references the answer as part of the question? Upvote it also?

S.Lott 2009-09-23 15:04:42

@S.Lott: Ha, you are right. He links to the docs. I didn't see that.Then I don't understand the question. His answer is in the doc that he links to.

Lennart Regebro 2009-09-23 15:51:47

@S. Lott, like Lennart, I didn't see that the OP was illiterate (the link was not obvious in his post).

KevinDTimm 2009-09-24 08:58:09

A:

shubham 2010-01-05 08:39:08

ansaurus