Get a Selective File Listing with Python

Retrieving a filtered list of files from a directory is a common task when working with files in Python. While you could use the os.listdir() method to obtain a list of all files, filtering the results can be a time-consuming process, especially for large directories.

Instead, consider utilizing Python's glob module, which offers a more efficient way to filter files based on specific patterns. Here's how you can use it:

import glob

# Get a list of files matching the pattern '145592*.jpg'
jpgFilenamesList = glob.glob('145592*.jpg')

The glob.glob() function takes a wildcard pattern as its argument. In this case, '145592*.jpg' matches all files that start with '145592' and have the '.jpg' extension. The result is a list containing the absolute paths to the matching files.

This approach is much more efficient than iterating through the entire list of files and filtering them out manually. It directly retrieves the filtered results, saving you both time and processing resources.

Refer to the Python documentation on glob for more details and other filtering capabilities.