Question

Below is the code snippet. I have a file.

f = open(self.reportSavePath,'w')
self.test = '';
for file in file_sorted:
    f.write(str(os.path.getmtime(file)) + "|" + file + "\r\n")
    self.test = self.test + str(os.path.getmtime(file)) + "|" + file + "\r\n"
f.close()

print("Size:",os.path.getsize(self.reportSavePath)) #Without opening file
print("Calculated size:",len(self.test.encode()))     #After reading the contents

My question is, why are the last two lines giving different output? Should they not be same?

If there is a reason, how can I edit line with comment #Without opening file to match the output with line commented #After reading the contents?

Answer 1

You’re comparing apples and oranges.

os.path.getsizeof returns the file size. len(some_string) returns the length of the string in characters regardless of encoding, which can affect the naive byte count.