/ operator

Learn path joining with Path / 'sub'.

Joining paths with the slash

The most elegant feature of pathlib is the / operator. You can join two Path objects or a Path with a string using /: Path("folder") / "sub" / "file.txt". This replaces os.path.join.

The operator is platform-independent: it joins with a forward slash on Linux and a backslash on Windows. You write the same code on both systems. It's more readable than using strings for path joining and reduces the risk of mistakes.

Multiple joins

You can use several / in one expression: Path("a") / "b" / "c" / "d.txt". The operation goes left to right; each step produces a new Path object.

This is especially handy for structural folder hierarchies: project / "src" / "utils" / "helper.py". The old approach was os.path.join("a", "b", "c"); the / operator is far more readable.

Exercise Join three parts and print the name

Start with from pathlib import Path. Join three parts with p = Path("projects") / "web" / "report.pdf". Print the filename with print(p.name).

Show example solution

# Import the Path class
from pathlib import Path
# Join three parts with /
p = Path("projects") / "web" / "report.pdf"
# Print the filename
print(p.name)

Test yourself

Join with the slash operator

from pathlib import Path
p = Path("docs")____ "sub"
print(p)

Show answer

from pathlib import Path
p = Path("docs")/ "sub"
print(p)

What is the result of Path("a") / "b"?
- The string "a/b"
- A list
- A new Path object
- An error is raised
Show answer

A new Path object — The / operator returns a Path object again, suitable for chaining.
Match the path-joining concepts

/

Path-joining operator
Path

Path object class
name

Filename attribute
parent

Parent folder attribute

Next lesson: exists and is_file

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