Difference between open and codecs.open in Python

Question

There are two ways to open a text file in Python:

f = open(filename)

And

import codecs
f = codecs.open(filename, encoding=\         


        

Answer 1

• When you want to load a binary file, use f = io.open(filename, 'b').

• For opening a text file, always use f = io.open(filename, encoding='utf-8') with explicit encoding.

In python 3 however open does the same thing as io.open and can be used instead.

Note: codecs.open is planned to become deprecated and replaced by io.open after its introduction in python 2.6. I would only use it if code needs to be compatible with earlier python versions. For more information on codecs and unicode in python see the Unicode HOWTO.