As a Python developer, you’ll often find yourself creating scripts that need to be customized or configured based on user input. This is where command-line arguments come in handy. Command-line arguments allow you to pass values to your Python scripts from the terminal, making them more flexible and adaptable to different use cases.
In this article, we’ll explore the basics of working with command-line arguments in Python, and provide you with practical examples to help you get started.
Understanding Command-Line Arguments
Command-line arguments are values that you can pass to a Python script when you run it from the terminal or command prompt.
These arguments are typically used to customize the behavior of the script, such as specifying input files, output locations, or other configuration settings.
In Python, you can access command-line arguments using the sys.argv
list. This list contains all the arguments passed to the script, including the script's name as the first element. Here's a simple example: