What's the Best Way to Recursively Find Files in Python?

Finding Files Recursively with Different Methods

When searching for files recursively in a directory structure, glob() may not be the most efficient or comprehensive approach. This article explores alternative methods to achieve recursive file listing:

pathlib.Path().rglob()

The pathlib module introduces pathlib.Path().rglob(), which recursively searches for matching files. Example:

from pathlib import Path

for path in Path('src').rglob('*.c'):
    print(path.name)

glob.glob() with recursive=True

For Python versions prior to 3.5, glob.glob() offers a recursive option. Example:

from glob import glob

for filename in glob('src/**/*.c', recursive=True):
    print(filename)

os.walk()

For older Python versions, os.walk() combined with fnmatch.filter() provides a recursive search. Example:

import fnmatch
import os

matches = []
for root, dirnames, filenames in os.walk('src'):
    for filename in fnmatch.filter(filenames, '*.c'):
        matches.append(os.path.join(root, filename))

The os.walk() method iterates through all subdirectories, while fnmatch.filter() applies a simple pattern matching. This approach may be more efficient for large directories due to the lower overhead compared to pathlib.

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