What is the purpose of io.BytesIO in Python?
BytesIO is a class used for manipulating binary data in memory. It offers a file-like interface for reading, writing, moving, and manipulating binary data without the need for an actual file.
The purpose of io.BytesIO is to create a buffer in memory for storing and manipulating binary data. It can be used to save binary data to memory or read binary data from memory. Similar to using a file object, you can use methods like read, write, seek, etc. in the io.BytesIO class to operate on the data.
The io.BytesIO is commonly used in the following scenarios:
- Handle binary data, such as reading, writing, manipulating binary files or network data.
- Temporarily store binary data in memory without the need to create an actual file.
- Passing binary data to a function or method that requires a file object parameter to avoid actually writing to or reading from a file.
The use of io.BytesIO allows for easy handling and manipulation of binary data, as it offers a similar interface to file objects, making it convenient to integrate with existing file handling code.