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Files & data

Read and write files safely; parse JSON, CSV, and common text formats.

2 matches
Files & data easy

Compare Two Folder Structures and Find Differences in Python

Walks two directories using os.walk, builds sets of relative paths, and prints items that exist in only one folder.

filesystem os.walk comparison
Python
import os

def compare_folders(path1, path2):
    """
    Compare the file/folder structure of two directories and print differences.
    """
    def get_structure(root):
        structure = set()
        for dirpath, dirnames, filenames in os.walk(root):
            rel_path = os.path.relpath(dirpath, root)
         …
28 0 Open
Files & data medium

How to Build a CSV Comparison Tool That Highlights Every Changed Cell in Python

Read two CSV files with DictReader, compare cell by cell, and return a list of dictionaries describing each changed cell using only the standard library.

csv comparison diff
Python
import csv
from pathlib import Path

def csv_cell_diff(file_a: str, file_b: str) -> list[dict]:
    rows_a = list(csv.DictReader(Path(file_a).open('r', newline='')))
    rows_b = list(csv.DictReader(Path(file_b).open('r', newline='')))
    if not rows_a or not rows_b:
        return []
    columns = list(rows_a[0].key…
20 0 Open

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