---
title: The File System
---

[PyMOTW-3 - The File System](https://pymotw.com/3/file_access.html)


## os.path — Platform-independent Manipulation of Filenames

- [os.path — Platform-independent Manipulation of Filenames](https://pymotw.com/3/os.path/index.html)
- [os.path — Common pathname manipulations](https://docs.python.org/3/library/os.path.html#module-os.path)

## pathlib — Filesystem Paths as Objects

- [pathlib — Filesystem Paths as Objects](https://pymotw.com/3/pathlib/index.html)
- [pathlib — Object-oriented filesystem paths](https://docs.python.org/3/library/pathlib.html#module-pathlib)


## glob — Filename Pattern Matching

- [glob — Filename Pattern Matching](https://pymotw.com/3/glob/index.html)
- [glob — Unix style pathname pattern expansion](https://docs.python.org/3/library/glob.html#module-glob)

## fnmatch — Unix-style Glob Pattern Matching

- [fnmatch — Unix-style Glob Pattern Matching](https://pymotw.com/3/logging/index.html)
- [fnmatch — Unix filename pattern matching](https://docs.python.org/3/library/fnmatch.html#module-fnmatch)

## linecache — Read Text Files Efficiently

- [linecache — Read Text Files Efficiently](https://pymotw.com/3/linecache/index.html)
- [linecache — Random access to text lines](https://docs.python.org/3/library/linecache.html#module-linecache)

## tempfile — Temporary File System Objects

- [tempfile — Temporary File System Objects](https://pymotw.com/3/tempfile/index.html)
- [tempfile — Generate temporary files and directories](https://docs.python.org/3/library/tempfile.html#module-tempfile)

## shutil — High-level File Operations

- [shutil — High-level File Operations](https://pymotw.com/3/shutil/index.html)
- [shutil — High-level file operations](https://docs.python.org/3/library/shutil.html#module-shutil)

## filecmp — Compare Files

- [filecmp — Compare Files](https://pymotw.com/3/filecmp/index.html)
- [filecmp — File and Directory Comparisons](https://docs.python.org/3/library/filecmp.html#module-filecmp)

## mmap — Memory-map Files

- [mmap — Memory-map Files](https://pymotw.com/3/mmap/index.html)
- [mmap — Memory-mapped file support](https://docs.python.org/3/library/mmap.html#module-mmap)

## codecs — String Encoding and Decoding

- [codecs — String Encoding and Decoding](https://pymotw.com/3/codecs/index.html)
- [codecs — Codec registry and base classes](https://docs.python.org/3/library/codecs.html#module-codecs)

## io — Text, Binary, and Raw Stream I/O Tools

- [io — Text, Binary, and Raw Stream I/O Tools](https://pymotw.com/3/io/index.html)
- [io — Core tools for working with streams](https://docs.python.org/3/library/io.html)

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