os-unlink (PTH108)

Derived from the flake8-use-pathlib linter.

What it does

Checks for uses of os.unlink.

Why is this bad?

pathlib offers a high-level API for path manipulation, as compared to the lower-level API offered by os. When possible, using Path object methods such as Path.unlink() can improve readability over the os module's counterparts (e.g., os.unlink()).

Note that os functions may be preferable if performance is a concern, e.g., in hot loops.

Examples

import os

os.unlink("file.py")

Use instead:

from pathlib import Path

Path("file.py").unlink()

References

• Python documentation: Path.unlink
• Python documentation: os.unlink
• PEP 428 – The pathlib module – object-oriented filesystem paths
• Correspondence between os and pathlib
• Why you should be using pathlib
• No really, pathlib is great