[sauravc]

Seems pretty easy in python:

  from subprocess import call
  call(["ls", "-l"])

or

  import os
  os.system("ls -l")

[shawabawa3]

The difference between "pretty easy" and "easy" changes everything.

Compare

  from subprocess import call
  call(["ls", "-l"])

to

  `ls -l`

[bashinator]

I really like the python sh library for stuff like this. Would you rather do what you wrote, or this?

    for listing in ls('-l'):
        '''etc'''

Here's the library in question - https://pypi.python.org/pypi/pbs - it makes me super happy to do shell work in python.

[CatMtKing]

Wow, that's a neat library. You can just import any program and use it like a function (from sh import grep)! Thanks for the link. Also, sh documentation: http://amoffat.github.io/sh/

[bashinator]

Yeah, it's replaced just a ton of boilerplate `def run(*args):` functions wrapping Popen. I couldn't be happier.

[mkarttic]

i use Sh to interface with my cmus player. from sh import cmus_remote! :)

[tomsthumb]

While there are several ways to skin that cat, the suggested way is to use subprocess.Popen .

Also, when using Popen, calling .wait() can cause problems if you are expecting large amounts of info back from stdin or stderr. Using .communicate() is generally better.

[bra-ket]

this. python has too many ways to skin the cat.

[tomsthumb]

hehe, while I do agree in this particular situation, it's rather funny to see that in writing.