[Type B] File Handling – Chapter 5 Sumita Arora

16. Identify the error in the following code.

import pickle
data = ['one', 2, [3, 4, 5]]
with open('data.dat', 'wb':
  pickle.dump(data)

Answer: The error in this code is a missing closing parenthesis in the open function call. The open function call should be open('data.dat', 'wb') instead of open('data.dat', 'wb':.

Here’s the corrected code:

import pickle
data = ['one', 2, [3, 4, 5]]
with open('data.dat', 'wb') as f:
    pickle.dump(data, f)

This code opens the file data.dat in binary write mode and passes the file object f to the pickle.dump function to serialize and write the data object to the file.

Other Improvements: to the code

• Incorrect File Extension: The code uses the extension .dat for the file, while the pickle module usually uses .pkl to store serialized data. While it’s technically possible to use other extensions, it’s recommended to stick with .pkl for clarity and consistency, especially when using the pickle module.