Question

Compare and contrast read(), readline() and readlines().

Answer 1

Basis of Difference	read()	readline()	readlines()
Purpose	Reads the complete file or a specified number of characters	Reads one line at a time	Reads all lines at once
Return value	A string	A string containing one line	A list of strings
Argument	Optional size	No argument normally required	No argument normally required
Memory use	May use large memory if the whole file is read	Memory efficient	May use large memory for large files
End of file	Returns an empty string	Returns an empty string	Returns an empty list

Example: read(10) reads 10 characters, whereas repeated calls to readline() read successive lines.