Question

What is a file's read position? Where is the read position when a file is first opened for reading?

Short answer

#Answer# When a file is first opened for reading, the read position is set to the beginning of the file, i.e., byte position 0.

Step-by-step solution

Understand the concept of a file's read position

The read position refers to the current position in a file from where the program reads the data. It indicates the next byte to read in a file. It is measured in bytes and starts from the beginning of the file (0 position). The read position helps in controlling the reading process and ensures that the correct data is read from the file.

File open modes

When a file is opened, different modes can be chosen, some of which are: - 'r': Read mode - 'w': Write mode - 'a': Append mode In this exercise, we are focusing on the read mode ('r').

Read position when a file is first opened for reading

When a file is first opened for reading using the 'r' mode, the read position is set to the beginning of the file, i.e., byte position 0.