Paths

A path is a name for a location in a file system.

"data/scores.txt"

This path says: look for scores.txt inside the data folder.

Relative paths

A relative path is interpreted from the current working directory:

The path "scores.txt" means “a file named scores.txt in the current working directory.”

You can inspect the current working directory with pathlib:

Path("data") / "scores.txt" builds a path without hard-coding a slash. This is clearer and works across operating systems.

Absolute paths

An absolute path starts from a file-system root rather than the current working directory. Its written form differs across operating systems. You can inspect an absolute location without hard-coding one:

Prefer relative project paths when the data travels with the project. Use an absolute path when the location is intentionally tied to one machine, and do not paste a path from someone else's computer into your program unchanged.

Create a folder before writing inside it

If a folder does not exist, writing a file inside it fails:

Create the folder first:

exist_ok=True means “do not fail if this folder already exists.”

Paths are not contents

A path names a place. It is not the text inside the file.

path = Path("scores.txt")

This creates a path object. It does not read the file. To read, open the path: