Merge pull request #187 from mnfienen/main

refactored path discussion in intro to python 04 to use pathlib

Author: mnfienen

notebooks/part0_python_intro/04_files_and_strings.ipynb

@@ -245,7 +245,7 @@
     "\n",
     "Files on non-volatile storage media are organized by a set of rules known as a **file system**. File systems are made up of files and **directories**, which are containers for both files and other directories.\n",
     "\n",
-    "By default, when we create a new file by opening it goes in the current directory (wherever we were when we ran the program). Similarly, when we open a file for reading, Python looks for it in the current directory. In the above example, we have used `os.path.join()` to write the file to a specific directory rather than the directory we are running this notebook from. If `'test.txt'` was used in the `open` statement, the file would have been written to the current working directory. The current working directory can be determined using:"
+    "By default, when we create a new file by opening it goes in the current directory (wherever we were when we ran the program). Similarly, when we open a file for reading, Python looks for it in the current directory. In the above example, we have used `pathlib.Path` to write the file to a specific directory rather than the directory we are running this notebook from. If `'test.txt'` was used in the `open` statement, the file would have been written to the current working directory. The current working directory can be determined using:"
    ]
   },
   {
@@ -255,9 +255,7 @@
    "metadata": {},
    "outputs": [],
    "source": [
-    "# The os module used to be the preferred way to access\n",
-    "# the current working directory; now we use pathlib\n",
-    "# os.getcwd()\n",
+    "# the pathlib Path object can be used to find the current working directory\n",
     "\n",
     "cwd = Path.cwd()\n",
     "print(cwd)"
@@ -268,7 +266,7 @@
    "id": "3a60f550",
    "metadata": {},
    "source": [
-    "Determine the directory that we wrote `'test.txt'` (`fname`) to in the blank code block below using `os.path.abspath()`:"
+    "Determine the directory that we wrote `'test.txt'` (`fname`) to in the blank code block below using `<Path>.resolve()` where `Path` indicates the `pathlib.Path` object:"
    ]
   },
   {
@@ -278,7 +276,6 @@
    "metadata": {},
    "outputs": [],
    "source": [
-    "# os.path.abspath(fname)\n",
     "print(fname)\n",
     "\n",
     "# to get the absolute path using pathlib, we use .resolve()\n",
@@ -296,7 +293,9 @@
     "\n",
     "`os.path` includes a number of useful methods for manipulating pathnames. For example, `os.path.normpath(path)` can be used to take Unix style paths into paths that can be used with Windows.\n",
     "\n",
-    "Take a look at https://docs.python.org/3.9/library/os.path.html for more information of `os.path` methods."
+    "Take a look at https://docs.python.org/3.9/library/os.path.html for more information on `os.path` methods or https://docs.python.org/3/library/pathlib.html for more information on `pathlib.Path`.\n",
+    "\n",
+    "Alternatively, `pathlib.Path` stores and operates on paths in a operating-system-agnostic way."
    ]
   },
   {

notebooks/part0_python_intro/solutions/04_files_and_strings.ipynb

@@ -339,7 +339,7 @@
     "\n",
     "Files on non-volatile storage media are organized by a set of rules known as a **file system**. File systems are made up of files and **directories**, which are containers for both files and other directories.\n",
     "\n",
-    "By default, when we create a new file by opening it goes in the current directory (wherever we were when we ran the program). Similarly, when we open a file for reading, Python looks for it in the current directory. In the above example, we have used `os.path.join()` to write the file to a specific directory rather than the directory we are running this notebook from. If `'test.txt'` was used in the `open` statement, the file would have been written to the current working directory. The current working directory can be determined using:"
+    "By default, when we create a new file by opening it goes in the current directory (wherever we were when we ran the program). Similarly, when we open a file for reading, Python looks for it in the current directory. In the above example, we have used `pathlib.Path` to write the file to a specific directory rather than the directory we are running this notebook from. If `'test.txt'` was used in the `open` statement, the file would have been written to the current working directory. The current working directory can be determined using:"
    ]
   },
   {
@@ -357,9 +357,7 @@
     }
    ],
    "source": [
-    "# The os module used to be the preferred way to access\n",
-    "# the current working directory; now we use pathlib\n",
-    "# os.getcwd()\n",
+    "# the pathlib Path object can be used to find the current working directory\n",
     "\n",
     "cwd = Path.cwd()\n",
     "print(cwd)"
@@ -370,7 +368,7 @@
    "id": "3a60f550",
    "metadata": {},
    "source": [
-    "Determine the directory that we wrote `'test.txt'` (`fname`) to in the blank code block below using `os.path.abspath()`:"
+    "Determine the directory that we wrote `'test.txt'` (`fname`) to in the blank code block below using `<Path>.resolve()` where `Path` indicates the `pathlib.Path` object:"
    ]
   },
   {
@@ -389,7 +387,6 @@
     }
    ],
    "source": [
-    "# os.path.abspath(fname)\n",
     "print(fname)\n",
     "\n",
     "# to get the absolute path using pathlib, we use .resolve()\n",
@@ -407,7 +404,9 @@
     "\n",
     "`os.path` includes a number of useful methods for manipulating pathnames. For example, `os.path.normpath(path)` can be used to take Unix style paths into paths that can be used with Windows.\n",
     "\n",
-    "Take a look at https://docs.python.org/3.9/library/os.path.html for more information of `os.path` methods."
+    "Take a look at https://docs.python.org/3.9/library/os.path.html for more information on `os.path` methods or https://docs.python.org/3/library/pathlib.html for more information on `pathlib.Path`.\n",
+    "\n",
+    "Alternatively, `pathlib.Path` stores and operates on paths in a operating-system-agnostic way."
    ]
   },
   {