Intermediate Python Training Exercise: File Handling and Data Processing

Overview

In this exercise, you will work on intermediate-level Python skills by handling file input/output and processing data. You will create a Python script that reads data from a CSV file, processes it, and writes the results to a new file. This exercise will help you practice working with file operations and basic data processing techniques.

Prerequisites

• Basic understanding of Python syntax
• Familiarity with data types (lists, dictionaries)
• Basic knowledge of CSV files and how to handle them in Python

Exercise Steps

Step 1: Setup

1. Create a CSV file named data.csv with the following content:

   Name,Age,Occupation
   Alice,30,Engineer
   Bob,25,Data Scientist
   Charlie,35,Teacher
   

2. Create a new Python script file named process_data.py in the same directory as data.csv.

Step 2: Read the CSV File

1. Import the necessary module for handling CSV files:

   import csv
   

2. Open and read the CSV file:

   with open('data.csv', mode='r') as file:
       reader = csv.DictReader(file)
       data = list(reader)
   

3. Print the data to verify it has been read correctly:

   print(data)
   

Step 3: Process the Data

1. Create a new list to store processed data:

   processed_data = []
   

2. Process each row to add a new field Senior that is True if Age is greater than or equal to 30, otherwise False:

   for row in data:
       row['Senior'] = int(row['Age']) >= 30
       processed_data.append(row)
   

Step 4: Write Data to a New CSV File

1. Specify the fieldnames including the new Senior field:

   fieldnames = ['Name', 'Age', 'Occupation', 'Senior']
   

2. Write the processed data to a new CSV file named processed_data.csv:

   with open('processed_data.csv', mode='w', newline='') as file:
       writer = csv.DictWriter(file, fieldnames=fieldnames)
       writer.writeheader()
       writer.writerows(processed_data)
   

3. Verify the new CSV file has been created and contains the correct data by opening processed_data.csv.

Step 5: Testing and Verification

1. Run your Python script to ensure it completes without errors and creates the processed_data.csv file.
2. Check the contents of processed_data.csv to verify that each person’s Senior status has been correctly calculated and recorded.

Conclusion

Congratulations on completing this intermediate-level exercise! You have successfully read, processed, and written data using Python's CSV handling capabilities. This exercise will help you better understand file operations and data processing in Python.

Feel free to modify the CSV file and script to practice with different datasets and processing tasks!

Additional Resources

• Python CSV Module Documentation
• Intermediate Python Programming