Automation Basics

Automation

Python is an excellent tool for automating repetitive or manual tasks, such as renaming files, processing text, sending emails, or interacting with APIs. This guide introduces the basics of writing automation scripts with Python.

Example: Renaming Multiple Files

You can use Python’s os module to batch rename files in a folder.

pythonCopyEditimport os

folder = "images"
for index, filename in enumerate(os.listdir(folder)):
    if filename.endswith(".jpg"):
        new_name = f"photo_{index + 1}.jpg"
        os.rename(
            os.path.join(folder, filename),
            os.path.join(folder, new_name)
        )

Example: Sending Emails Automatically

pythonCopyEditimport smtplib
from email.message import EmailMessage

msg = EmailMessage()
msg.set_content("This is an automated message.")
msg["Subject"] = "Automation Test"
msg["From"] = "you@example.com"
msg["To"] = "friend@example.com"

with smtplib.SMTP("smtp.example.com", 587) as server:
    server.starttls()
    server.login("you@example.com", "yourpassword")
    server.send_message(msg)

⚠️ Use environment variables or secure vaults for storing passwords.

Best Practices

• Use argparse to pass input from the command line.

• Combine with cron jobs or Task Scheduler for timed automation.

• Add logging to track what the script does over time.

Conclusion

Whether you’re managing files, generating reports, or sending reminders, Python scripts can save hours of manual effort. In the next article, we’ll explore how to build flexible scripts using command-line arguments.