Automate the Boring Stuff with Python: 5 Easy Scripts

Python's simple syntax and powerful libraries make it the perfect language for automation. Whether you're a developer, a data analyst, or just someone who wants to be more efficient, Python can help you automate repetitive tasks and save countless hours. This article provides five practical scripts to get you started on your automation journey.

Prerequisites

To run these scripts, you'll need Python installed on your system. You can download it from the official Python website.

You'll also need to install a few libraries. You can do this using pip, Python's package manager:

pip install requests beautifulsoup4 openpyxl

1. File Organizer

Do you have a "Downloads" folder cluttered with a mix of images, documents, and installers? This script automatically organizes files into subdirectories based on their extension.

The Logic:

1. Scan a target directory for all files.
2. For each file, get its extension (e.g., .pdf, .jpg).
3. Create a subdirectory named after the extension if it doesn't exist.
4. Move the file into the corresponding subdirectory.

The Script:

import os
import shutil

# The path to the directory you want to organize
# TIP: Use a raw string (r"...") on Windows to avoid issues with backslashes
path = r"/path/to/your/downloads"

# Get a list of all files in the directory
try:
    files = [f for f in os.listdir(path) if os.path.isfile(os.path.join(path, f))]
except FileNotFoundError:
    print(f"Error: The directory '{path}' was not found.")
    exit()

for file in files:
    # Get the file extension
    filename, extension = os.path.splitext(file)
    extension = extension[1:] # Remove the dot

    if not extension: # Skip files with no extension
        continue

    # Create a directory for the extension if it doesn't exist
    extension_dir_path = os.path.join(path, extension)
    if not os.path.exists(extension_dir_path):
        os.makedirs(extension_dir_path)
        print(f"Created directory: {extension_dir_path}")

    # Move the file
    source_path = os.path.join(path, file)
    destination_path = os.path.join(extension_dir_path, file)
    shutil.move(source_path, destination_path)
    print(f"Moved '{file}' to '{extension_dir_path}'")

print("File organization complete!")

2. Simple Web Scraper

This script scrapes the headlines from a news website (like Hacker News) and prints them out. It's a great introduction to web scraping.

The Logic:

1. Send an HTTP GET request to the target URL.
2. Parse the HTML content of the page using BeautifulSoup.
3. Find all HTML elements that match a specific CSS selector (in this case, the selector for headlines).
4. Extract and print the text from each element.

The Script:

import requests
from bs4 import BeautifulSoup

# URL of the site to scrape
url = "https://news.ycombinator.com"

try:
    response = requests.get(url)
    response.raise_for_status() # Raise an exception for bad status codes (4xx or 5xx)

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

    # The headlines on Hacker News are in a 'span' with the class 'titleline'
    headlines = soup.find_all('span', class_='titleline')

    if not headlines:
        print("No headlines found. The website structure might have changed.")
    else:
        print(f"--- Top Headlines from {url} ---")
        for index, headline in enumerate(headlines):
            # The headline text is inside an 'a' tag within the span
            link_tag = headline.find('a')
            if link_tag:
                print(f"{index + 1}. {link_tag.get_text(strip=True)}")

except requests.exceptions.RequestException as e:
    print(f"Error fetching the URL: {e}")

3. Excel Spreadsheet Automation

This script reads data from an existing Excel file, processes it (e.g., calculates a new column), and saves the result to a new file.

The Logic:

1. Load an Excel workbook and select the active sheet.
2. Iterate through the rows of the sheet.
3. For each row, read values from specific columns.
4. Perform a calculation (e.g., calculate profit).
5. Write the result to a new column in that row.
6. Save the modified workbook to a new file.

The Script: First, create a sample Excel file named sales.xlsx with this data:

from openpyxl import load_workbook

input_filename = "sales.xlsx"
output_filename = "sales_with_profit.xlsx"

try:
    # Load the workbook and select the active sheet
    wb = load_workbook(filename=input_filename)
    sheet = wb.active

    # Add a new header for the 'Profit' column
    sheet["D1"] = "Profit"

    # Iterate through rows, starting from the second row (to skip the header)
    # min_row=2, max_col=3 to process only rows with data in the first 3 columns
    for row in sheet.iter_rows(min_row=2, max_col=3, values_only=False):
        price_cell = row[1] # Column B
        cost_cell = row[2]  # Column C
        
        if isinstance(price_cell.value, (int, float)) and isinstance(cost_cell.value, (int, float)):
            price = price_cell.value
            cost = cost_cell.value
            profit = price - cost

            # Get the cell for the new 'Profit' column and set its value
            profit_cell = sheet.cell(row=price_cell.row, column=4)
            profit_cell.value = profit

    # Save the changes to a new file
    wb.save(output_filename)
    print(f"Successfully created '{output_filename}' with profit calculations.")

except FileNotFoundError:
    print(f"Error: The file '{input_filename}' was not found. Please create it first.")
except Exception as e:
    print(f"An error occurred: {e}")

4. Automated Email Sender (using smtplib)

This script sends a plain-text email from a Gmail account. Note: You'll need to enable "Less secure app access" in your Google account settings or use an "App Password" for this to work.

The Logic:

1. Connect to the SMTP server (e.g., smtp.gmail.com).
2. Start a secure TLS connection.
3. Log in with your email and password.
4. Construct the email message.
5. Send the email and close the connection.

The Script:

import smtplib
import os
from getpass import getpass # To securely ask for password

# --- Configuration ---
# For better security, use environment variables or a config file for your email
SENDER_EMAIL = os.environ.get("EMAIL_USER") or "[email protected]"
RECEIVER_EMAIL = "[email protected]"
SMTP_SERVER = "smtp.gmail.com"
SMTP_PORT = 587

# --- Get Credentials ---
if SENDER_EMAIL == "[email protected]":
    print("Please set the SENDER_EMAIL variable in the script or as an environment variable.")
    exit()

# getpass makes the password input invisible
SENDER_PASSWORD = os.environ.get("EMAIL_PASS") or getpass(f"Enter password for {SENDER_EMAIL}: ")

# --- Email Content ---
subject = "An Automated Email from Python!"
body = "This is a test email sent from a Python script. Automation is awesome!"
message = f"Subject: {subject}\n\n{body}"

# --- Sending Logic ---
try:
    # Connect to the SMTP server
    with smtplib.SMTP(SMTP_SERVER, SMTP_PORT) as server:
        # Start TLS for security
        server.starttls()
        # Login to your account
        server.login(SENDER_EMAIL, SENDER_PASSWORD)
        # Send the email
        server.sendmail(SENDER_EMAIL, RECEIVER_EMAIL, message)
    
    print("Email sent successfully!")

except smtplib.SMTPAuthenticationError:
    print("Authentication failed. Check your email/password or 'App Password' settings.")
except Exception as e:
    print(f"An error occurred: {e}")

5. Image Resizer

This script finds all images in a directory and resizes them to a specified width, maintaining the aspect ratio.

The Logic:

1. Iterate through all files in a source directory.
2. Check if a file is an image (based on its extension).
3. Open the image using the Pillow library.
4. Calculate the new height to maintain the aspect ratio.
5. Resize the image and save it to an output directory.

Prerequisites: Install the Pillow library: pip install Pillow

The Script:

import os
from PIL import Image

# --- Configuration ---
SOURCE_DIRECTORY = r"./source_images"
OUTPUT_DIRECTORY = r"./resized_images"
TARGET_WIDTH = 800 # The desired width of the output images

# --- Ensure directories exist ---
if not os.path.exists(SOURCE_DIRECTORY):
    os.makedirs(SOURCE_DIRECTORY)
    print(f"Created source directory: {SOURCE_DIRECTORY}. Please add images to it.")
    exit()
if not os.path.exists(OUTPUT_DIRECTORY):
    os.makedirs(OUTPUT_DIRECTORY)

# --- Image Processing ---
for filename in os.listdir(SOURCE_DIRECTORY):
    # Check for valid image extensions
    if filename.lower().endswith(('.png', '.jpg', '.jpeg', '.bmp', '.gif')):
        try:
            img_path = os.path.join(SOURCE_DIRECTORY, filename)
            img = Image.open(img_path)

            # Calculate the new height to maintain aspect ratio
            width_percent = (TARGET_WIDTH / float(img.size[0]))
            target_height = int((float(img.size[1]) * float(width_percent)))
            
            # Resize the image using high-quality downsampling
            img = img.resize((TARGET_WIDTH, target_height), Image.Resampling.LANCZOS)
            
            # Save the resized image to the output directory
            output_path = os.path.join(OUTPUT_DIRECTORY, filename)
            img.save(output_path)
            print(f"Resized and saved: {filename}")

        except Exception as e:
            print(f"Could not process {filename}. Error: {e}")

print("Image resizing complete.")

These five scripts are just the beginning. The world of automation is vast, but by starting with these simple, practical examples, you can build the skills to tackle even more complex tasks. Happy automating!