Why file.write() is appending in r+ mode in Python?

September 19, 2022

Assume I have a file content.txt, with the content Ex nihilo nihil fit. I am willing to replace it with Ex nihilo nihil est. The code is:

with open("content.txt", "r+") as f:
    content = f.read()
    content = content.replace("fit", "est")
    print(content)
    f.write(content)
    f.close()

After that, the content of the file becomes:

Ex nihilo nihil fit
Ex nihilo nihil est

Why? The only thing I need is Ex nihilo nihil est. What is the correct code?

>Solution :

r+ opens the file and puts a pointer at the first byte. When you use f.read() the pointer moves to the end of the file, so when you try to write it starts at the end of the file. To move back to the start (so you can override), use f.seek(0):

with open("text.txt", "r+") as f:
    content = f.read()
    content = content.replace("fit", "est")
    print(content)
    f.seek(0)
    f.write(content)
    f.close()