all Python 3osfunction

os.read

os — file descriptors

Read up to n bytes from a file descriptor, returning bytes.

Syntax

os.read(fd, n)

It may return fewer than n bytes even if more data is coming — especially on pipes, sockets and terminals — so read in a loop. An empty b'' result means end of file. It works with bytes and bypasses Python's buffers; for everyday file work open() is more convenient.

Examples

import os
r, w = os.pipe()
os.write(w, b'hello')
print(os.read(r, 5))   # → b'hello'
os.close(r)
os.close(w)

See also

Common errors

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