Python sys Module

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Python sys module deals with the system and environment-specific variables and parameters. We can use it to read the PATH variable and the list of command-line parameters passed to the Python script.

Import sys Module in Python

Before using any module, it needs to be imported.

Syntax:

import module_name

Example:

import sys

Python sys.modules

This variable let us know about the existing modules present or imported by the current shell.

Syntax:

>>> sys.modules.keys()
dict_keys(['sys', 'builtins', '_frozen_importlib', '_imp', '_thread', '_warnings', '_weakref', 'zipimport', '_frozen_importlib_external', '_io', 'marshal', 'posix', 'encodings', 'codecs', '_codecs', 'encodings.aliases', 'encodings.utf_8', '_signal', '__main__', 'encodings.latin_1', 'io', 'abc', '_abc', 'site', 'os', 'stat', '_stat', 'posixpath', 'genericpath', 'os.path', '_collections_abc', '_sitebuiltins', '_bootlocale', '_locale', 'types', 'importlib', 'importlib._bootstrap', 'importlib._bootstrap_external', 'warnings', 'importlib.util', 'importlib.abc', 'importlib.machinery', 'contextlib', 'collections', 'operator', '_operator', 'keyword', 'heapq', '_heapq', 'itertools', 'reprlib', '_collections', 'functools', '_functools', 'mpl_toolkits', 'readline', 'atexit', 'rlcompleter'])
>>>

Python sys.argv

This gives us a list of command-line arguments passed to the python script

Example 1:

import sys
print('The agruments input from command line are:')
for x in sys.argv:
    print(x)

Output:

Python sys.argv
Python-sys.argv

Python sys.path

This variable displays the PATH of the current system or environment.

Syntax:

sys.path

Example:

import sys
sys.path

['', 'C:\Users\HP\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python38-32\python38.zip', 'C:\Users\HP\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python38-32\DLLs', 'C:\Users\HP\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python38-32\lib', 'C:\Users\HP\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python38-32', 'C:\Users\HP\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python38-32\lib\site-packages']

Python sys.stdin

This function of sys module is used to accept input for a user-input-prompt program.

Syntax:

sys.stdin.readline()

Example:

import sys
input = sys.stdin.readline()
print("Input : " + input)

Output:

Python sys stdin
Python sys.stdin

As mentioned, the above example accepts input from the user and displays it.

Python sys.maxsize

This variable returns the largest integer value a variable can take and store.

Syntax:

sys.maxsize

Example:

import sys
sys.maxsize

Output:

Python sys.maxsize
Python sys.maxsize

Python sys.copyright

This variable displays the copyright of the current version of Python installed on the system.

Syntax:

sys.copyright

Example:

import sys
print(sys.copyright)

Output:

Python sys.copyright
Python sys.copyright

Python sys.getrefcount

This function of the sys module returns the count of references to the particular object being used within the particular piece of the code block.

Example:

import sys

input = "Engineering"

print(sys.getrefcount(0))
print(sys.getrefcount(input))
print(sys.getrefcount(None))

Output:

Python sys.getrefcount
Python sys.getrefcount

Python sys.exit

This function of sys module makes the Python interpreter end the execution of the current program abruptly. It is used to exit the program from the particular flow of control of the code.

Syntax:

sys.exit()

Example:

import sys
print("Engineering")
sys.exit(1)
print("Discipline")

Output:

Engineering

In the above example, as soon as the exit() function is encountered, it comes out of the execution of the particular program. Thus, “Discipline” doesn’t get printed in the output.

References