Python File readlines() Method with example

Hello dear readers! Welcome back to another edition of our tutorial on Python. In this tutorial guide, we will be studying about the Python File readlines() method.

The Python file readlines() method reads until EOF using readline() and returns a list which contains the lines. If the optional sizehint argument is available, instead of reading up to EOF, the whole lines which totals almost sizehint bytes are read.

An empty string is returned back only when EOF is hit immidiately.

Syntax

The following below is the syntax for Python File readlines() method -

fileObject.readlines( sizehint );

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Parameter Details

• sizehint - Number of bytes to be read from the file.

Return Value

It returns a list containing the lines.

Example

The following below is a simple example -

This is 1st line
This is 2nd line
This is 3rd line
This is 4th line
This is 5th line

#!/usr/bin/python

# Open a file
fo = open("foo.txt", "rw+")
print "Name of the file: ", fo.name

# Assuming file has following 5 lines
# This is 1st line
# This is 2nd line
# This is 3rd line
# This is 4th line
# This is 5th line

line = fo.readlines()
print "Read Line: %s" % (line)

line = fo.readlines(2)
print "Read Line: %s" % (line)

# Close opend file
fo.close()

Output

When the above code is executed, it will produce the following result -

Name of the file:  foo.txt
Read Line: ['This is 1st line\n', 'This is 2nd line\n', 'This is 3rd line\n', 'This is 4th line\n', 'This is 5th line']
Read Line: []

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Alright guys! This is where we are rounding up for this tutorial post. In our next tutorial, we are going to be studying about the Python File seek Method.

Feel free to ask your questions where necessary and i will attend to them as soon as possible. If this tutorial was helpful to you, you can use the share button to share this tutorial.

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Thanks for reading and bye for now.