Command line options with optional arguments in Python

In this tutorial, we will explore how to work with command line options that can take optional arguments in Python. We'll use the argparse module, a built-in Python library that simplifies the process of parsing command line arguments.
Before you begin, ensure that you have Python installed on your system. You should already have Python knowledge to understand this tutorial.
argparse is a Python module that makes it easy to write user-friendly command-line interfaces. It allows you to define command-line options and arguments, specify whether they are required or optional, and provides built-in help messages.
Open a text editor or an integrated development environment (IDE) to write your Python script.
Import the argparse module in your script:
Create an ArgumentParser object to define the command-line options and arguments:
To add optional command line options, use the add_argument method on the parser object. You can specify the long and short options, as well as help messages for each option. You can also specify the type of argument, default values, and more.
Here is an example that adds two optional options, --input and --output, with optional arguments:
To parse the command line arguments, use the parse_args method on the parser object. This method returns an object containing the values of the parsed arguments:
You can access the optional arguments by using dot notation on the args object. Check if they were provided and use the values accordingly:
Here is a complete Python script that demonstrates the use of argparse with optional arguments:
You can run the script from the command line and provide optional arguments:
If you don't provide optional arguments, the script will still work:
In this tutorial, we've learned how to work with optional command line options and arguments in Python using the argparse module. You can expand on this foundation to create more complex command line interfaces for your Python scripts.
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