They are a convenient way to export data from spreadsheets and databases as well as import or use it in other programs. You’ll see how CSV files work, learn the all-important csv library built into Python, and see how CSV parsing works using the pandas library.ĬSV files are normally created by programs that handle large amounts of data. In this article, you’ll learn how to read, process, and parse CSV from text files using Python. If your work requires lots of data or numerical analysis, the pandas library has CSV parsing capabilities as well, which should handle the rest. The Python csv library will work for most cases. There are several perfectly acceptable libraries you can use.

Let’s get one thing clear: you don’t have to (and you won’t) build your own CSV parser from scratch.

One of the most popular formats for exchanging data is the CSV format. Exchanging information through text files is a common way to share info between programs. Let’s face it: you need to get information into and out of your programs through more than just the keyboard and console.

Watch it together with the written tutorial to deepen your understanding: Reading and Writing CSV Files Watch Now This tutorial has a related video course created by the Real Python team.

Python read and write file