2.6 The cStringIO Module

The cStringIO is an optional module, which contains a faster implementation of the StringIO module. It works exactly like the StringIO module, but it cannot be subclassed. Example 2-11 shows how cStringIO is used.

Example 2-11. Using the cStringIO Module

File: cstringio-example-1.py

import cStringIO

MESSAGE = "That man is depriving a village somewhere of a computer scientist."

file = cStringIO.StringIO(MESSAGE)

print file.read()

That man is depriving a village somewhere of a computer scientist.

To make your code as fast as possible, but also robust enough to run on older Python installations, you can fall back on the StringIO module if cStringIO is not available, as Example 2-12 does.

Example 2-12. Falling Back on the StringIO Module

File: cstringio-example-2.py

try:
    import cStringIO
    StringIO = cStringIO
except ImportError:
    import StringIO

print StringIO

<module  'StringIO' (built-in)>