On 01/21/2012 02:44 AM, Andrea Crotti wrote:
I normally didn't bother too much when reading from files, and for example
I always did a
content = open(filename).readlines()
But now I have the doubt that it's not a good idea, does the file
handler stays
open until the interpreter quits?
It is not necessary most of the time, and most likely is not necessary
for short-lived programs. The file handler stays open until the file
object is garbage collected, in CPython which uses reference counting
the file handler is closed when the last reference to the file object is
deleted or goes out of context; in python implementations that uses
garbage collection method, this is indeterministic.
It is only strictly necessary for programs that opens thousands of files
in a short while, since the operating system may limit of the number of
active file handlers you can have.
However, it is considered best practice to close file handlers; making
it a habit will avoid problems when you least expect it.
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