Os Module Vs. Sys Module In Python

Python provides a lot of libraries to interact with the development environment. If you need help using the OS and Sys Module in Python, you have landed in the right place. This article covers a detailed explanation of the OS and Sys Module including their comparison. By the end of this article, you will be able to easily decide which module suits your Python application development.

What is the OS Module?

OS stands for the Operating System module in Python that allows the developers to interact with the operating system. It provides functions to perform tasks like file and directory manipulation, process management, and more. For example, we can get information about the operating system, such as the current working directory and the user's home directory. This makes it suitable for managing the system-level operations.

What is the Sys Module?

On the other hand, the System, abbreviated as the Sys Module helps us to interact with the Python runtime environment. It allows access to variables used or maintained by the Python interpreter. It also provides tools such as ‘sys.argv’ for command-line arguments, system-specific parameters, or exiting scripts. Also, developers can easily manipulate parameters related to the interpreter's configuration, standard streams, and exit codes. Hence, we can easily manipulate the various parts of the Python Runtime environment.

Sys. Module Vs OS Module

Below are some of the examples by which we can understand the difference between sys module and os module in Python:

Accessing Details

The Sys Module can access the command line arguments and the os module can access the location of the script as shown in the below code.

# PythonCode.py executed with ‘python PythonCode.py arg1 arg2 ‘
import sys
import os

# Accessing command-line arguments using sys.argv
script_name = sys.argv[0]
arguments = sys.argv[1:]

# Getting the absolute path of the script using os.path
script_path = os.path.abspath(script_name)

print("Script Name:", script_name)
print("Arguments:", arguments)
print("Script Path:", script_path)

Output:

Returning Path

The OS Module gives the Python Path within the system and the Sys module gives the Python Path that is shown below:

import os
import sys


# Getting current working directory using os.getcwd()
current_directory = os.getcwd()

# Creating a new directory using os.mkdir()
new_directory1 = os.path.join(current_directory, 'new_folder')
os.mkdir(new_directory1)

# Checking Python path using sys.executable
python_path = sys.executable

print("Current Directory:", current_directory)
print("New Directory Path:", new_directory1)
print("Python Path:", python_path)

Output:

Environment Variables and Command Line Arguments

You can use OS Module to get the Environment Variables and Sys module to access the Command line arguments. This is illustrated as shown below.

import os
import sys

# Getting value of an environment variable using os.environ.get()
python_path = os.environ.get('PYTHONPATH', 'Not found')

# Setting a new environment variable using os.environ
os.environ['NEW_VAR'] = 'new_value'

# Accessing command-line arguments using sys.argv
script_name = sys.argv[0]
arguments = sys.argv[1:]


print("Python Path:", python_path)
print("Script Name:", script_name)
print("Arguments:", arguments)
print("New Environment Variable:", os.environ['NEW_VAR'])

Output:

Differences between OS and Sys Modules

Conclusion

OS and Sys Module both are useful while developing applications that can interact with the system and the development environment. The OS is primarily made to help the developers interact with the system-level tasks and configuration. On the other hand, the Sys module allows us to interact with the interpreter, optimize memory, and customize the import behavior. This information is sufficient for you to select the right module specific to your development requirements.