Question

When you open a file for the purpose of saving a pickled object to it, what file access mode do you use?

Short answer

Answer: The most suitable file access mode for opening a file to save a pickled object to it is the 'write' (w) mode.

Step-by-step solution

Understanding File Access Modes

File access modes determine how a file is opened and used. Some common access modes are read (r), write (w), append (a) and read-write (r+). The suitable mode for this exercise is the one that allows writing to the file without reading or appending it.

Evaluating Access Modes

Let's analyze different file access modes: - Read (r): Allows only reading from the file. It's not suitable for this exercise as we need to write a pickled object to the file. - Write (w): Allows writing to the file. If the file already exists, its content will be overwritten. If the file doesn't exist, a new file will be created. This mode seems suitable for our task. - Append (a): Allows appending to the file. This mode maintains the existing content and allows adding new content. Not suitable for this exercise as we want to overwrite the existing content. - Read-Write (r+): Allows both reading and writing. Not suitable for this exercise as we don't need to read the file.

Choosing the Correct Access Mode

Based on our evaluation, we can conclude that the most suitable file access mode for opening a file to save a pickled object to it is 'write' (w) mode, as it allows writing to the file and overwrites the existing content if the file already exists or creates a new file if it doesn't exist.