Replacing Shell Scripts: Making Directories and Links in Python

You might need to make folders and link files from time to time. The os module is used for both of these tasks.

import os
os.mkdir('newdir') # like mkdir
os.makedirs('notexistent/bogus/newdir') # like mkdir -p

os.mkdir and os.makedirs offer little in the way of surprises. os.mkdir works like mkdir and os.makedirs works like mkdir -p, creating any intermediate directories it needs to create the specified directory.

import os
os.link('file', 'newhardlink') # think ln
os.symlink('fileordir', 'newsymlink') # think ln -s

os.link creates hard links to files just like ln. os.symlink creates soft links in the way that ln -s does. I love how python works in such a predictable fashion.

Posted by Tyler Lesmann on January 11, 2009 at 5:48

Tagged as: python shell_scripting