Python Scripting: Automate Your Daily Tasks

Python Scripting is the solution for today’s advanced tech. Are you also tired of repetitive tasks wasting your time? In today’s fast-paced world, efficiency is key to success. Whether you’re a student, a professional, or just someone looking to save time, automation can be a game-changer. With its simple syntax and powerful libraries.

Python makes automation accessible to everyone. In this blog, we will go through how Python scripting can help automate your daily tasks, making life easier and more productive. In this article, we will learn more about Python Scripting in detail.

Table of Contents

What is Python Scripting?

Python scripting refers to writing small programs (scripts) to automate repetitive tasks. Unlike full-fledged software development, scripting focuses on solving specific problems quickly and efficiently. Python scripts can be used for file management, web scraping, data processing, sending emails, and much more.

Python scripting

Python scripting can significantly enhance productivity by automating repetitive tasks. Whether you’re managing files, scraping data, or automating emails, Python makes it easy and efficient. Start small, explore different automation possibilities, and soon you will wonder how you ever managed without it!

Why Use Python for Automation?

Python Scripting

Python has become one of the most dynamic programming languages. Using Python for automation is one of the general questions that is asked. Some of the reasons for using Python for automation are mentioned below:

Easy to Learn: Python’s readable syntax makes it beginner-friendly. It is easy for beginners to read Python’s syntax.
Rich Libraries: Python offers a wide range of built-in and third-party libraries for automation
Cross-Platform: Python runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux, making automation seamless across devices
Saves Time: Automating mundane tasks allows you to focus on more important work.

Common Tasks You Can Automate with Python

Python Scripting

Some of the common tasks that can be automated with Python is mentioned below:

1. File and Folder Management

Rename multiple files at once
Organizing files into folders based on extensions
Deleting old files automatically

Downloading Files from Internet using Python Scripting
import aiohttp import asyncio import aiofiles async def download_file(url, filename): async with aiohttp.ClientSession() as session: async with session.get(url) as response: async with aiofiles.open(filename, ‘wb’) as file: await file.write(await response.read()) print(f”Downloaded {filename}”) urls = { ‘https://example.com/file1.zip’: ‘file1.zip’, ‘https://example.com/file2.zip’: ‘file2.zip’ } async def download_all(): tasks = [download_file(url, filename) for url, filename in urls.items()] await asyncio.gather(*tasks) asyncio.run(download_all())

Downloading Files from Internet using Python Scripting

import aiohttp

import asyncio

import aiofiles

async def download_file(url, filename):

async with aiohttp.ClientSession() as session:

async with session.get(url) as response:

async with aiofiles.open(filename, ‘wb’) as file:

await file.write(await response.read())

print(f”Downloaded {filename}”)

urls = {

‘https://example.com/file1.zip’: ‘file1.zip’,

‘https://example.com/file2.zip’: ‘file2.zip’

}

async def download_all():

tasks = [download_file(url, filename) for url, filename in urls.items()]

await asyncio.gather(*tasks)

asyncio.run(download_all())

2. Web Scraping

Extracting data from websites
Automating report generation from online sources
Checking product prices and availability

Web Scraping using Python Scripting
import aiohttp import asyncio from bs4 import BeautifulSoup async def fetch(session, url): async with session.get(url) as response: return await response.text() async def scrape(urls): async with aiohttp.ClientSession() as session: tasks = [fetch(session, url) for url in urls] html_pages = await asyncio.gather(*tasks) for html in html_pages: soup = BeautifulSoup(html, ‘html.parser’) print(soup.title.string) urls = [‘https://example.com/page1’, ‘https://example.com/page2’] asyncio.run(scrape(urls))

Web Scraping using Python Scripting

import aiohttp

import asyncio

from bs4 import BeautifulSoup

async def fetch(session, url):

async with session.get(url) as response:

return await response.text()

async def scrape(urls):

async with aiohttp.ClientSession() as session:

tasks = [fetch(session, url) for url in urls]

html_pages = await asyncio.gather(*tasks)

for html in html_pages:

soup = BeautifulSoup(html, ‘html.parser’)

print(soup.title.string)

urls = [‘https://example.com/page1’, ‘https://example.com/page2’] asyncio.run(scrape(urls))

3. Email and Messaging Automation

Sending emails automatically
Setting up reminders
Auto-replying to emails

Email Automation using Python Scripting
import smtplib from email.mime.text import MIMEText from email.mime.multipart import MIMEMultipart def send_email(subject, body, to_email): sender_email = ‘youremail@gmail.com’ sender_password = ‘yourpassword’ receiver_email = to_email msg = MIMEMultipart() msg[‘From’] = sender_email msg[‘To’] = receiver_email msg[‘Subject’] = subject msg.attach(MIMEText(body, ‘plain’)) try: server = smtplib.SMTP(‘smtp.gmail.com’, 587) server.starttls() server.login(sender_email, sender_password) server.sendmail(sender_email, receiver_email, msg.as_string()) server.quit() print(“Email sent successfully!”) except Exception as e: print(f”Failed to send email: {e}”) subject = ‘Monthly Report’ body = ‘Here is the monthly report.’ send_email(subject, body, ‘receiver@example.com’)

Email Automation using Python Scripting

import smtplib

from email.mime.text import MIMEText

from email.mime.multipart import MIMEMultipart

def send_email(subject, body, to_email):

sender_email = ‘youremail@gmail.com’

sender_password = ‘yourpassword’

receiver_email = to_email

msg = MIMEMultipart()

msg[‘From’] = sender_email

msg[‘To’] = receiver_email

msg[‘Subject’] = subject

msg.attach(MIMEText(body, ‘plain’))

try:

server = smtplib.SMTP(‘smtp.gmail.com’, 587)

server.starttls()

server.login(sender_email, sender_password)

server.sendmail(sender_email, receiver_email, msg.as_string())

server.quit()

print(“Email sent successfully!”)

except Exception as e:

print(f”Failed to send email: {e}”)

subject = ‘Monthly Report’

body = ‘Here is the monthly report.’

send_email(subject, body, ‘receiver@example.com’)

Also, you can schedule Auto-reply to emails, for instance

Auto-Reply to Emails Using Python Scripting
import imaplib import smtplib from email.mime.text import MIMEText def auto_reply(): # Connect to email server mail = imaplib.IMAP4_SSL(“imap.gmail.com”) mail.login(‘youremail@gmail.com’, ‘yourpassword’) mail.select(‘inbox’) # Search for unread emails status, emails = mail.search(None, ‘UNSEEN’) if status == “OK”: for email_id in emails[0].split(): status, email_data = mail.fetch(email_id, ‘(RFC822)’) email_msg = email_data[0][1].decode(‘utf-8’) # Send auto-reply send_email(“Auto-reply”, “Thank you for your email. I’ll get back to you soon.”, ‘sender@example.com’) def send_email(subject, body, to_email): sender_email = ‘youremail@gmail.com’ sender_password = ‘yourpassword’ receiver_email = to_email msg = MIMEText(body) msg[‘From’] = sender_email msg[‘To’] = receiver_email msg[‘Subject’] = subject with smtplib.SMTP_SSL(‘smtp.gmail.com’, 465) as server: server.login(sender_email, sender_password) server.sendmail(sender_email, receiver_email, msg.as_string()) auto_reply()

Auto-Reply to Emails Using Python Scripting

import imaplib

import smtplib

from email.mime.text import MIMEText

def auto_reply():

# Connect to email server

mail = imaplib.IMAP4_SSL(“imap.gmail.com”)

mail.login(‘youremail@gmail.com’, ‘yourpassword’)

mail.select(‘inbox’)

# Search for unread emails

status, emails = mail.search(None, ‘UNSEEN’)

if status == “OK”:

for email_id in emails[0].split():

status, email_data = mail.fetch(email_id, ‘(RFC822)’)

email_msg = email_data[0][1].decode(‘utf-8’)

# Send auto-reply

send_email(“Auto-reply”, “Thank you for your email. I’ll get back to you soon.”, ‘sender@example.com’)

def send_email(subject, body, to_email):

sender_email = ‘youremail@gmail.com’

sender_password = ‘yourpassword’

receiver_email = to_email

msg = MIMEText(body)

msg[‘From’] = sender_email

msg[‘To’] = receiver_email

msg[‘Subject’] = subject

with smtplib.SMTP_SSL(‘smtp.gmail.com’, 465) as server:

server.login(sender_email, sender_password)

server.sendmail(sender_email, receiver_email, msg.as_string())

auto_reply()

4. Data Processing and Reporting

Automating Excel reports
Data cleaning and formatting
Converting files between different formats

Automating Data Cleaning Using Python Scripting
import csv def clean_csv(file_path): with open(file_path, ‘r’) as infile: reader = csv.reader(infile) rows = [row for row in reader if any(row)] with open(file_path, ‘w’, newline=”) as outfile: writer = csv.writer(outfile) writer.writerows(rows) print(“Empty rows removed from CSV”) file = ‘/path/to/your/data.csv’ clean_csv(file)

Automating Data Cleaning Using Python Scripting

import csv

def clean_csv(file_path):

with open(file_path, ‘r’) as infile:

reader = csv.reader(infile)

rows = [row for row in reader if any(row)]

with open(file_path, ‘w’, newline=”) as outfile:

writer = csv.writer(outfile)

writer.writerows(rows)

print(“Empty rows removed from CSV”)

file = ‘/path/to/your/data.csv’ clean_csv(file)

Extracting texts from Image using Python Scripting
from PIL import Image import pytesseract def extract_text_from_image(image_path): # Open the image file img = Image.open(image_path) # Use pytesseract to extract text text = pytesseract.image_to_string(img) return text image_path = ‘path_to_your_image.jpg’ extracted_text = extract_text_from_image(image_path) print(“Extracted Text:\n”, extracted_text)

Extracting texts from Image using Python Scripting

from PIL import Image

import pytesseract

def extract_text_from_image(image_path):

# Open the image file

img = Image.open(image_path)

# Use pytesseract to extract text

text = pytesseract.image_to_string(img)

return text

image_path = ‘path_to_your_image.jpg’

extracted_text = extract_text_from_image(image_path)

print(“Extracted Text:\n”, extracted_text)

5. Task Scheduling

Automating daily backups
Running scripts at specific times
Sending automated notifications

Task Scheduling Using Python Scripting
import schedule import time def job(): print(“Running scheduled task!”) # Schedule the task to run every day at 10:00 AM schedule.every().day.at(“10:00”).do(job) while True: schedule.run_pending() time.sleep(1)

Task Scheduling Using Python Scripting

import schedule

import time

def job():

print(“Running scheduled task!”)

# Schedule the task to run every day at 10:00 AM

schedule.every().day.at(“10:00”).do(job)

while True:

schedule.run_pending()

time.sleep(1)

6. Generate Passwords Automatically

Unique password generation
Using a random function for a new password automatically

Generate Passwords Automatically using Python Scripting
import random import asyncio import string async def generate_password(length=12): characters = string.ascii_letters + string.digits + string.punctuation password = ”.join(random.choice(characters) for _ in range(length)) return password async def generate_multiple_passwords(n, length=12): tasks = [generate_password(length) for _ in range(n)] passwords = await asyncio.gather(*tasks) print(passwords) asyncio.run(generate_multiple_passwords(5))

Generate Passwords Automatically using Python Scripting

import random

import asyncio

import string

async def generate_password(length=12):

characters = string.ascii_letters + string.digits + string.punctuation

password = ”.join(random.choice(characters) for _ in range(length))

return password

async def generate_multiple_passwords(n, length=12):

tasks = [generate_password(length) for _ in range(n)]

passwords = await asyncio.gather(*tasks)

print(passwords)

asyncio.run(generate_multiple_passwords(5))

Some Of The Best Practices for Python Automation

Python Scripting

Some of the best practices for Python automation using Python scripting are mentioned below:

Use virtual environments as they keep your dependencies organized
Implement exception handling to prevent script failures and handle the errors gracefully
Avoid hardcoding passwords; instead, use environment variables to secure sensitive data
Use cron or Task Scheduler to run scripts automatically to schedule your scripts
Avoid unnecessary loops and optimize database queries to optimize the performance of the code.

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Python Scripting FAQs

Q1. How do you automate your daily work in Python?

Ans. In this blog, we will go through how Python scripting can help automate your daily tasks, making life easier and more productive. With its simple syntax and powerful libraries, Python makes automation accessible to everyone.

Q2. Why should you use Python Scripts for automation?

Ans. Python has become one of the most dynamic programming languages. Using Python for automation is one of the general questions that is asked. Python is easy to learn, rich in libraries, and easy to understand, making it the choice for automation.

Q3. What is Python Scripting?

Ans. Python scripting refers to writing small programs (scripts) to automate repetitive tasks. Unlike full-fledged software development, scripting focuses on solving specific problems quickly and efficiently. Python scripts can be used for file management, web scraping, data processing, sending emails, and much more.

Q4. Can we automate email and messaging using Python Scripts?

Ans. Yes, we can automate email and messaging using Python Scripts. We can auto-reply to emails, sort emails based on importance, and many more automated tasks can be done using Python scripts. Some of them are mentioned above in the article.