File Handling (Reading, Writing, Appending)

Programs often need to store data permanently — after the program closes, the data should still be available the next time it runs. File handling allows programs to read from and write to text files. This is a key topic for GCSE Computer Science (AQA 3.2 / OCR J277 2.2).

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Why Use Files?

Variables only exist while a program is running. When the program ends, all variable data is lost. Files provide persistent storage — data saved to a file remains available after the program closes.

Common uses of file handling:

• Saving high scores in a game
• Storing user account details
• Logging events or errors
• Reading configuration settings

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File Operations

There are three main file operations:

Operation	Description	Pseudocode	Python mode
Read	Opens a file and reads its contents	OPENREAD	"r"
Write	Creates a new file (or overwrites existing) and writes data	OPENWRITE	"w"
Append	Opens an existing file and adds data to the end	OPENAPPEND	"a"