How to Print Specific Parts of a Line from a Text File in Python

Learn how to effectively extract and print specific parts of a line from a text file using Python, no matter the content!
---

Visit these links for original content and any more details, such as alternate solutions, latest updates/developments on topic, comments, revision history etc. For example, the original title of the Question was: I need to print the specific part of a line in a txt file

If anything seems off to you, please feel free to write me at vlogize [AT] gmail [DOT] com.
---
Introduction

Have you ever found yourself needing to extract specific information from a text file, such as printing words without the associated numbers? For instance, if you have a file containing job titles along with their count, you might want to print just the job titles themselves, ignoring the numbers. In this guide, we'll address this common problem faced by many Python beginners and show how to effectively accomplish this task.

The Challenge

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

When trying to extract the job titles, a novice programmer may encounter an error like "substring not found." This often occurs when the approach doesn't correctly handle the file reading or the string manipulation.

The Goal

Our goal is to read the lines from the text file and print out only the job titles:

Janitors

Programers

Secretaries

The Solution: A Step-by-Step Code Breakdown

Let’s walk through the correct way to write this program in Python so that you can successfully print the desired job titles.

Step 1: Open and Read the File

First, we need to open the text file in read mode and grab all the lines. Here's how:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

We then split the content by line breaks, creating a list of lines.

Step 2: Iterate Through the Lines

Next, we want to loop through each line in the list. This will allow us to process each line individually:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

In this loop, for every line, we will perform string manipulation to isolate the job title.

Step 3: Extract the Job Title

Now, we need to separate the job title from the corresponding number. We can achieve this by splitting the line by a comma since the format is consistent:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Step 4: Close the File

Good practice dictates that we close the file after we’ve finished reading from it:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

This ensures that all resources are properly released, avoiding potential memory issues.

Complete Code

Putting it all together, here’s the complete code snippet:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Expected Output

When you run the above code with the provided text file, you should see the following output in your console:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Conclusion

Extracting specific parts of a line in a text file using Python can be straightforward once you understand the basics of file handling and string manipulation. By following the simple steps outlined above, you can efficiently print the desired information. This foundational skill can open up a wide range of possibilities in your programming journey, whether you're processing data, log files, or other textual information.

Happy coding!