Automation means using programs to perform repetitive tasks automatically.

Python is widely used for automation because it is:

Simple
Powerful
Cross-platform

Automation can save:

Time
Effort
Manual work

Common Automation Tasks

Python can automate:

File handling
Web scraping
Email sending
Data entry
System tasks
Scheduled jobs

Automating Tasks

Python scripts can perform repetitive operations automatically.

Example: Automatic File Creation

with open("notes.txt", "w") as file:
    file.write("Python Automation")

Example: Rename Multiple Files

import os

files = os.listdir()

for index, file in enumerate(files):

    if file.endswith(".txt"):

        new_name = f"file_{index}.txt"

        os.rename(file, new_name)

print("Files renamed")

Example: Folder Creation

import os

for i in range(1, 6):

    folder_name = f"Folder_{i}"

    os.mkdir(folder_name)

print("Folders created")

Web Scraping

Web scraping extracts data from websites.

Popular libraries:

Requests
BeautifulSoup

Install Libraries

pip install requests beautifulsoup4

Send HTTP Request

import requests

response = requests.get("https://example.com")

print(response.status_code)

Parse HTML with BeautifulSoup

from bs4 import BeautifulSoup

html = """
<html>
    <h1>Python</h1>
</html>
"""

soup = BeautifulSoup(html, "html.parser")

print(soup.h1.text)

Output:

Python

Extract All Links

from bs4 import BeautifulSoup

html = """
<a href='https://google.com'>Google</a>
<a href='https://github.com'>GitHub</a>
"""

soup = BeautifulSoup(html, "html.parser")

for link in soup.find_all("a"):
    print(link.get("href"))

Scrape Website Title

import requests
from bs4 import BeautifulSoup

url = "https://example.com"

response = requests.get(url)

soup = BeautifulSoup(
    response.text,
    "html.parser"
)

print(soup.title.text)

Email Automation

Python can send emails automatically.

Uses:

Notifications
Reports
OTP emails
Bulk emails

Using `smtplib`

import smtplib

Send Simple Email

import smtplib

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

server.starttls()

server.login(
    "your_email@gmail.com",
    "your_password"
)

message = "Hello from Python"

server.sendmail(
    "your_email@gmail.com",
    "receiver@gmail.com",
    message
)

server.quit()

print("Email sent")

Email with Subject

from email.message import EmailMessage
import smtplib

msg = EmailMessage()

msg["Subject"] = "Python Email"

msg["From"] = "your_email@gmail.com"

msg["To"] = "receiver@gmail.com"

msg.set_content("Hello from Python")

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

server.starttls()

server.login(
    "your_email@gmail.com",
    "password"
)

server.send_message(msg)

server.quit()

File Automation

Python can automate file operations such as:

Copying files
Moving files
Deleting files
Organizing folders

Copy File

import shutil

shutil.copy(
    "source.txt",
    "destination.txt"
)

Move File

import shutil

shutil.move(
    "source.txt",
    "new_folder/source.txt"
)

Delete File

import os

os.remove("data.txt")

Organize Files by Extension

import os
import shutil

files = os.listdir()

for file in files:

    if file.endswith(".jpg"):

        if not os.path.exists("Images"):
            os.mkdir("Images")

        shutil.move(file, f"Images/{file}")

Scheduling Scripts

Scheduling allows scripts to run automatically at specific times.

Using `schedule` Library

Install Schedule

pip install schedule

Example Scheduler

import schedule
import time

def task():
    print("Task executed")

schedule.every(5).seconds.do(task)

while True:

    schedule.run_pending()

    time.sleep(1)

Run Daily Task

schedule.every().day.at("10:00").do(task)

System Scheduler

You can also use:

Windows Task Scheduler
Linux Cron Jobs

Cron Job Example (Linux)

0 10 * * * python3 script.py

Runs script daily at 10:00 AM.

Windows Task Scheduler

Steps:

Open Task Scheduler
Create Basic Task
Select Python script
Set schedule time

Practical Example

Automatic Backup Script

import shutil
import datetime

source = "data.txt"

date = datetime.datetime.now().strftime(
    "%Y%m%d_%H%M%S"
)

backup = f"backup_{date}.txt"

shutil.copy(source, backup)

print("Backup created:", backup)

Advantages of Automation

✅ Saves time
✅ Reduces manual work
✅ Improves productivity
✅ Reduces errors
✅ Handles repetitive tasks efficiently

Best Practices

✅ Handle exceptions properly
✅ Avoid hardcoded passwords
✅ Use logging for scripts
✅ Schedule scripts carefully
✅ Respect website scraping policies

Summary

In this chapter you learned:

✅ Automating tasks
✅ Web scraping
✅ Email automation
✅ File automation
✅ Scheduling scripts

🇮🇳 Amazon India 🌍 Amazon Global

17. Automation and Scripting in Python