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I could not find any official recommended indentation for the following idiom (straight from http://effbot.org/zone/python-with-statement.htm):

with open(path) as f:
    data = f.read()
    do something with data

or:

with open(path) as f:
    data = f.read()
do something with data

IMHO, the first version is better at showing the scope, but the latter may prevent an excessive indentation. Is choosing one of those just a matter of taste? Or is there any authoritative source or established tradition to follow?

As a side note, I cannot help but think that with is quite apart from the other block-constructing Python keywords. For instance, there is no question about choosing between:

if condition:
    do something
    do something different

or:

if condition:
    do something
do something different

Since they do... well, something different.

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  • 1
    If you (have to) worry about excessive indentation (because of do something consisting of many lines) you should probably put the loop and the something into separate functions/methods, and make data a (return) parameter. Voilà, the scope is well defined then. – Murphy Feb 23 '17 at 9:02
  • @Murphy Probably, yes. Note that "do something with data" is taken literally (there is no do loop in Python). I've taken this example from: effbot.org/zone/python-with-statement.htm – Aristide Feb 23 '17 at 9:08
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    Indentation doesn't show the scope, it defines it. Version 1 isn't any better at showing the scope, it just needlessly extends it. The fact that data originally came from a file doesn't mean that you need to keep the file opened while you process data. – Kilian Foth Feb 23 '17 at 9:09
  • Your last paragraph is completely wrong. The with block behaves the same as the if block, your first two samples are not doing quite the same thing. – jonrsharpe Feb 23 '17 at 11:35
  • If you are really only opening a file and doing a single read without catching any exceptions, you can just do data = open(path).read(). This is equivalent to your second example. – Steven Burnap Feb 24 '17 at 5:22
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I always use the second approach because it ensures that I don't hold the resource (file in your case) open longer than necessary.

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  • This is definitely the answer. Made the mistake in a SE answer this very day, by the way. Also, the with statement itself is NOT failsafe, it can throw file exceptions that you need to properly handle, something that is very easy to forget. – Arthur Havlicek Feb 23 '17 at 9:44
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In python indentation affect how the program works.

with open(path) as f:
    data = f.read()
    do something with data

means: open path in f, read in data, do stuff with data, close f

and 

with open(path) as f:
    data = f.read()
do something with data

means: open path in f, read in data, close f, do stuff with data. (I like this more, as i prefer to close files as soon as possible)

So they are not strictly equivalent: indentation in the magical world of python matters as much as curly braces in C-like languages.

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  • Indeed, thanks. To make the difference appear, one could try to re-open the file in the 3rd line. Which is not quite what I meant with "do something with data", but I cannot find a better example. – Aristide Feb 23 '17 at 12:30

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