Python subprocess issue with ampersands

python's subprocess module is a powerful tool for interacting with external processes, allowing you to run shell commands from within your python script. however, when working with commands that contain ampersands (&), you might encounter unexpected behavior. this tutorial will explain the issue and provide solutions to handle ampersands correctly in python subprocess.
in a shell (command-line) environment, the ampersand (&) is used for several purposes:
background processes: it allows you to run a command in the background while still using the shell for other tasks. for example, command & runs command in the background.
command chaining: you can use ampersands to run multiple commands sequentially. for example, command1 & command2 runs command1 and then command2 concurrently.
when working with python subprocess, you need to be aware of how these behaviors can impact your commands.
this may not behave as expected because the ampersand is interpreted by the shell, not by python. in this case, the entire command2 part might not get executed correctly.
a safer way to run commands with subprocess is by passing the command as a list of arguments rather than a single string. each element of the list should be a separate argument. this approach avoids the need for the shell to interpret the command and eliminates the ampersand issue:
in this example, each component of the command is treated as a separate argument, and there's no need for the shell to interpret the ampersand.
if you must use a single string for your command, you can escape the ampersand using backslashes:
by escaping the ampersand with a backslash (\\&), you tell the shell to treat ...