Working with zip files in Python

Python is a powerful programming language with a rich set of libraries that make it easy to work with various file formats, including zip files. Zip files are compressed archives that can contain one or more files and directories. They are commonly used for packaging and distributing files, as well as for reducing the size of large files for storage or transmission.

In this article, we will explore how to work with zip files in Python. We will cover how to create, extract, and manipulate zip files, as well as how to iterate over the contents of a zip file and add new files to an existing zip archive.

Creating a Zip File

To create a zip file in Python, you can use the zipfile module. The following example demonstrates how to create a zip file named example.zip containing two files, file1.txt and file2.txt:

Output:

Adding file1.txt to example.zip
Adding file2.txt to example.zip

In this example, we first import the zipfile module. We then specify a list of files to be zipped and the name of the zip file. Finally, we use a with statement to create a new zip file (example.zip) and add the files to it using the write method.

Extracting Files from a Zip File

To extract files from a zip file in Python, you can use the extractall method of the ZipFile class. The following example demonstrates how to extract all files from a zip file named example.zip:

Output:

The files from example.zip will be extracted to the current working directory.

In this example, we first import the zipfile module. We then specify the name of the zip file (example.zip) and use a with statement to open the zip file in read mode ('r') and extract all files from it using the extractall method.

Iterating Over the Contents of a Zip File

To iterate over the contents of a zip file in Python, you can use the namelist method of the ZipFile class. The following example demonstrates how to print the names of all files in a zip file named example.zip:

Output:

The names of all files in example.zip will be printed to the console.

In this example, we first import the zipfile module. We then specify the name of the zip file (example.zip) and use a with statement to open the zip file in read mode ('r'). We then iterate over the names of all files in the zip file using the namelist method and print them to the console.

Adding Files to an Existing Zip Archive

To add files to an existing zip archive in Python, you can use the write method of the ZipFile class with the a (append) mode. The following example demonstrates how to add a new file named new_file.txt to an existing zip archive named example.zip:

Output:

new_file.txt will be added to example.zip

In this example, we first import the zipfile module. We then specify the name of the existing zip archive (example.zip) and the name of the new file to be added (new_file.txt). We use a with statement to open the existing zip archive in append mode ('a') and add the new file to it using the write method.

Conclusion

Working with zip files in Python is straightforward and can be done using the zipfile module. In this article, we covered how to create, extract, and manipulate zip files, as well as how to iterate over the contents of a zip file and add new files to an existing zip archive. Zip files are a convenient way to package and distribute files in Python, and the zipfile module provides a flexible and easy-to-use interface for working with them.