Python – continue recursion,
file handling, json
Week 7 lecture (2)
Quick Recap
● Definition: A function that calls itself
● Base Case: Stops recursion to prevent infinite calls
● Recursive Case: Function calls itself with a smaller problem
Recursion
practice time!
● fractal tree
● tower of hanoi
01
File Handling
Why Use Files?
📂 Store data permanently (unlike variables,
which disappear when a program stops).
📄 Read/write data from .txt or .csv
(and more) files.
Types of Files
📄 Text Files (.txt, .csv, .json)
● Stores human-readable data (UTF-8, ASCII).
● Examples: Logs, config files, structured data (CSV,
JSON).
📦 Binary Files (.bin, .jpg, .mp3)
● Stores data in raw binary format (not human-readable).
● Examples: Images, videos, audio, compiled programs.
Opening a File
🔹 Use the open() function:
file = open("data.txt", "r")
# Open in read mode
Modes in open():
Mode Meaning
"r" Read (default), error if file doesn’t exist
"w" Write (creates a new file or overwrites existing content)
"a" Append (adds to the end of a file)
"x" Create (fails if file already exists)
"r+" Read and write
"wb" Write binary
"rb" Read binary
Reading a File
Three ways to read a file:
# Read full content
with open("data.txt", "r") as file:
content = file.read()
print(content)
# Read line by line
with open("data.txt", "r") as file:
for line in file:
print(line.strip()) # Removes \n
# Read into a list
with open("data.txt", "r") as file:
lines = file.readlines() # List of lines
✅ Best practice: Use with open(...) to auto-close files.
Slide 5: Writing to a File
🔹 Using "w" mode will
with open("output.txt", "w") as file: overwrite existing content.
file.write("Hello, world!\n") 🔹 To add new content instead,
file.write("Abobus. :P") use "a" (append mode).
📌 Difference between w and a:
with open("output.txt", "a") as file: ● "w" clears the file before
file.write("\nThis is a new line.") writing.
● "a" keeps the existing
content and adds new data.
Exception Handling with Files
❌ What if the file doesn’t exist?
✅ Use try-except for error handling:
try:
with open("nonexistent.txt", "r") as file:
content = file.read()
except FileNotFoundError:
print("File not found!")
0
2
JSON in Python
What is JSON?
📊 JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) = A lightweight
data format for storing structured data.
💡 Looks like a Python dictionary:
{
"name": "Alice",
"age": 25,
"city": "New York"
}
🔹 Used in APIs, config files, databases.
Converting Python Data to JSON
Python dictionary → JSON string:
import json
data = {"name": "Abobus", "age": 25}
json_string = json.dumps(data, indent = 4) # Pretty-printing
print(json_string)
📌 indent = 4 makes JSON readable.
Writing JSON to a File
with open("data.json", "w") as file:
json.dump(data, file, indent=4)
📝 json.dump() writes directly to a file.
Reading JSON from a File
# data = {"name": "Abobus", "age": 25}
with open("data.json", "r") as file:
loaded_data = json.load(file)
print(loaded_data["name"]) # Abobus
🔹 json.load() converts JSON file → Python dictionary.
Practice time!
Спасибо!
