How can I parse a YAML file in Python

Question

How can I parse a YAML file in Python?

Answer 1

The easiest and purest method for parsing a YAML file in Python is as follows:-

#!/usr/bin/env python

import yaml

with open("example.yaml", 'r') as stream: 

      try:

         print(yaml.safe_load(stream))

      except yaml.YAMLError as exc:

         print(exc) 

There is a plain yaml.load() function that also exists, but yaml.safe_load() should always be preferred unless you explicitly need the arbitrary object serialization/deserialization provided in order to avoid introducing the possibility for arbitrary code execution.