Python shutil: copy, move and archive files without subprocess
When you need to copy a directory, move files, or create an archive in Python, the temptation is to reach for subprocess.run(["cp", "-r", ...]) or os.system("mv ..."). That approach is fragile, non-portable, and unnecessary: shutil (shell utilities) has been in the Python standard library since version 2.3 and handles all of this cleanly. The Python shutil library is the go-to tool for high-level filesystem operations. Why shutil instead of os or subprocess os exposes low-level system calls: rename, link, create directories. It does not copy file contents. os.rename() fails when the source and destination are on different filesystems (separate partitions, mounted Docker volumes, etc.). subprocess with cp or mv does not work on Windows. ...