correct way of using os.path.join() in python

Question

I came across this python function os.path.join(). I wanted to know which was a preferred method of using it.

os.path.join(r'C:\\' , r'some_dir_in_C_folder')

or

print os.path.join("C:\\" , "some_dir_in_C_folder\\")

TIA

There are multiple differences between the two code snippets, and it's not clear which difference is important to you. Is it the print? Or the raw strings? Or the backslash at the end of the path? — user2357112
– user2357112, Commented Jul 30, 2014 at 0:13
not print actually. i wanted to ultimately walk through this saved path when need arises. When i say saved, i mean i'd store it in a variable. — Tuffy
– Tuffy, Commented Jul 30, 2014 at 0:17
the top one is correct ... the point of os.path.join is that you dont need to worry about the separator ... as such using it largely defeats the purpose ... os.path.join is just a convenience wrapper around os.path.sep.join(["PATH","DIR1","DIR2",...]) — Joran Beasley
– Joran Beasley, Commented Jul 30, 2014 at 0:18

suhailvs · Accepted Answer · 2014-07-30 00:27:12Z

12

both are incorrect, the correct usage is(for eg: c:/programs/myfiles/cat.txt:

>>> import os
>>> os.path.join('C:/' , 'programs','myfiles','cat.txt') 
'C:/programs/myfiles/cat.txt'

edited Jul 30, 2014 at 0:27

answered Jul 30, 2014 at 0:18

suhailvs

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7 Comments

interjay Over a year ago

OP's second version is somewhat correct. Your version is incorrect, and doesn't give the result you posted for me. I assume you didn't run it on Windows.

suhailvs Over a year ago

@interjay as joran beasley said the point of os.path.join is that you don't need to worry about the seperator.

interjay Over a year ago

If you ran this then it wasn't on Windows. On Windows your version would give a relative path to the current directory on drive C:, which is incorrect.

interjay Over a year ago

The backslash after C: is required on Windows. From the documentation: Note that on Windows, since there is a current directory for each drive, os.path.join("c:", "foo") represents a path relative to the current directory on drive C: (c:foo), not c:\foo.

suhailvs Over a year ago

@BrownieTuffy hmm... so you need c:\\` instead of c:/. I am using linux and it is strongly recommend to use / instead of using `\` you can also use some relative paths.

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