An example Python script for the Software Carpentry Python lesson (https://github.com/arthur-e/swc-workshop/tree/master/python-climate)

temperature.py

'''
Reports the min and max July temperatures for each file
that matches the given filename pattern.
'''

import csv
import os
import sys
import glob

# Get the user-specified directory
directory = sys.argv[1]

# Pattern to use in searching for files
filename_pattern = os.path.join(directory, '*temperature.csv')

for filename in glob.glob(filename_pattern):
    july_temps = []
    
    # While the file is open...
    with open(filename, 'r') as stream:
        # Use a function to read the file
        reader = csv.reader(stream)
        
        # Each row is a year
        for row in reader:
            # Add this year's July temperature to the list
            july_temps.append(row[6])
            
    # A human-readable name for the file        
    pretty_name = os.path.basename(filename)
    print(pretty_name, '--Hottest July mean temp. was', max(july_temps), 'deg K')
    print(pretty_name, '--Coolest July mean temp. was', min(july_temps), 'deg K')