Extracting extension from filename in Python

Question

Is there a function to extract the extension from a filename?

Answer 1

For simple use cases one option may be splitting from dot:

>>> filename = "example.jpeg"
>>> filename.split(".")[-1]
'jpeg'

No error when file doesn't have an extension:

>>> "filename".split(".")[-1]
'filename'

But you must be careful:

>>> "png".split(".")[-1]
'png'    # But file doesn't have an extension

Also will not work with hidden files in Unix systems:

>>> ".bashrc".split(".")[-1]
'bashrc'    # But this is not an extension

For general use, prefer os.path.splitext