[Tutor] How to get script to detect whether a file exists?

[Richard D. Moores]

On Mon, Aug 2, 2010 at 16:57, Steven D'Aprano <steve at pearwood.info> wrote:
>  # File *probably* doesn't exist. Consider better error checking.

Steve, before I dig into your detailed reply, please tell me what you
meant by " # File *probably* doesn't exist. Consider better error
checking.".

Context was

def load(path):
  """Open file given by path if it exists, and return its contents.
  If it doesn't exist, save and return the default contents.
  """
  try:
      f = open(path, 'r')
  except IOError:
      # File *probably* doesn't exist. Consider better error checking.
      data = []
      save(path, data)
  else:
      data = pickle.load(f)
      f.close()
  return data

Dick