Important CBSE Class XII Computer
Science Questions on File Handling
Short Answer Questions (2-3 marks)
Q: Explain the purpose of file handling in Python.
A: File handling allows storing data permanently on a disk. It enables reading from and
writing to files, making data persistence possible.
Q: Differentiate between text files and binary files.
A: Text files store data in human-readable ASCII or Unicode format, while binary files store
data in binary (0s and 1s) form, which is directly readable by machines.
Q: Write a Python code snippet to open a file in write mode, write 'Hello, World!' to it,
and close it.
A: with open("example.txt", "w") as file:
file.write("Hello, World!")
Q: Explain the difference between write() and writelines() functions in Python.
A: write() writes a single string to the file, while writelines() writes a list of strings to the file
in sequence.
Q: What does the seek() method do in file handling?
A: The seek() method moves the file pointer to a specific location within the file.
Long Answer Questions (4-5 marks)
Q: Write a Python program to count the number of words in a text file.
A: def count_words(filename):
with open(filename, "r") as file:
data = file.read()
words = data.split()
return len(words)
filename = "sample.txt"
print("Total words:", count_words(filename))
Q: Explain file handling modes in Python with examples of each mode.
A: - 'r': Read mode - Opens a file for reading.
- 'w': Write mode - Opens a file for writing, creates it if it doesn't exist, and truncates if it
exists.
- 'a': Append mode - Opens a file for appending data at the end without truncating.
- 'rb', 'wb', 'ab': Binary modes for reading, writing, and appending.
Q: Write a program to copy the contents of one text file to another.
A: with open("source.txt", "r") as source:
with open("destination.txt", "w") as destination:
destination.write(source.read())
Q: Describe the process of reading and writing a binary file with an example.
A: # Writing to binary file
with open("data.dat", "wb") as file:
file.write(b"Hello Binary!")
# Reading from binary file
with open("data.dat", "rb") as file:
data = file.read()
print(data)
Previous Year Questions (4-5 marks)
Q: Write a Python program to read student records from a text file and display students
who scored more than 75%.
A: def display_high_scorers(filename):
with open(filename, "r") as file:
for line in file:
name, marks = line.strip().split(',')
if int(marks) > 75:
print(name, marks)
filename = "students.txt" # Each line in format "Name, Marks"
display_high_scorers(filename)
Q: Explain and demonstrate exception handling while performing file operations.
A: try:
with open("example.txt", "r") as file:
print(file.read())
except FileNotFoundError:
print("File not found. Please check the file path.")
Q: Write a Python program to append data to a file only if it exists; otherwise, create a
new file and write data.
A: try:
with open("data.txt", "a") as file:
file.write("Appended text.\n")
except FileNotFoundError:
with open("data.txt", "w") as file:
file.write("New file created and text added.\n")
