Python essentials

essentials.py

'''
Python 2.x essentials.

This requires Python 2.5 or later.
'''
from __future__ import with_statement

import codecs
import os

# Write a text file containing a couple of lines.
with codecs.open('test.txt', 'wb', 'iso-8859-15') as testFile:
    testFile.write(u'first line')
    testFile.write(os.linesep)
    testFile.write(u'second line with some more words')
    testFile.write(os.linesep)

# Read a file line by line.
with codecs.open('test.txt', 'rb', 'iso-8859-15') as testFile:
    for lineNumber, line in enumerate(testFile, start=1):
       print '%d: %r' % (lineNumber, line)