Introduction

CSV (Comma Separated Values) files are commonly used for data exchange between different applications. In Python, reading information from a CSV file is quite straightforward with the built-in csv module. This article will guide you through writing Python code to read information from a CSV file using this module.

Prerequisites

Make sure that your Python environment has access to the built-in CSV module, which should be included by default in any standard Python installation. If you’re not sure, you can always check for its availability by running the following command in a Python console or terminal:

import csv

If there are no errors or messages during import, your Python environment has the CSV module available for use.

Reading Information from a CSV File in Python

1. Open the CSV file using the built-in open() function and specify the ‘r’ argument to open the file in read mode. Assign the returned file object to a variable, e.g., file_reader.

file_reader = open('example.csv', 'r')

2. Create a csv.reader() object and pass it the previously opened file object as an argument. This will enable you to read CSV data more easily. Assign the returned reader object to another variable, e.g., csv_reader.

csv_reader = csv.reader(file_reader)

Iterate through each row in the CSV file using a loop. Each iteration will return an individual row as a list of strings, where the comma is used as a delimiter between the values.

for row in csv_reader:
    print(row)

4. Close the file object to release any system resources after you’ve finished reading from it using the built-in close() method.

file_reader.close()

A Complete Example

Here is a complete example that reads information from a sample CSV file and prints its content:

import csv

# Open the CSV file in read mode
file_reader = open('example.csv', 'r')

# Create a csv.reader object
csv_reader = csv.reader(file_reader)

# Iterate through each row in the CSV file
for row in csv_reader:
    print(row)

# Close the file object to release any system resources
file_reader.close()

Conclusion

In this article, you’ve learned how to read information from a CSV file using Python and its built-in CSV module. By following these simple steps, you can easily extract and manipulate data stored in a CSV format with Python code.