Get Number of Characters, Words, Spaces and Lines in a File - Python

Given a text file, the task is to count the total number of characters, words, spaces and lines in the file.

Example: (Myfile.txt)

Hello world
This is Python
It is easy

Output:
Lines: 3
Words: 8
Characters: 30
Spaces: 5

Using Built-in Python Functions

This is the most readable and Pythonic method. It uses split(), generator expressions and basic iteration.

Output

Lines: 3
Words: 8
Characters: 30
Spaces: 5

Explanation:

• line.split(): splits line into words
• len(line.split()): number of words in the line
• line.count(" "): counts spaces
• sum(1 for c in x if c not in (" ", "\n")): counts non-space, non-newline characters.

Using OS Module + Filtering Words

This method uses os.linesep, strip() and comprehension-based counting. 

Output

Lines: 3
Words: 8
Characters: 30
Spaces: 5

Explanation:

• line.strip(os.linesep): removes newline character
• line.split(): gives list of words
• sum(1 for c in line if ...): counts characters and spaces.

Naive Manual Approach

This method manually checks every character and updates counters. It is more complex and less readable.

Output

Lines: 3
Words: 8
Characters: 30
Spaces: 5

Related Articles:

• Python program to read file word by word
• Count Words in Text File in Python