What is the difference between py and pyc files

Question

I have noticed  pyc files spontaneously being generated when some  py file of the same name gets run  What is the difference between  py and  pyc files    Also  I find that having  pyc files lying around clutters up space  Should one delete  pyc files  Or is there a benefit and or necessity to having them around   UPDATE  Here are 2 answered questions that are related to my question  If Python is interpreted  what are  pyc files   Why are main runnable Python scripts not compiled to pyc files like modules   This Question is not a Duplicate  Reason 1  Because I am asking what the difference between these two files are  The question S Lott found named  If Python is interpreted  what are  pyc files   is not asking what the difference between  py and  pyc files are  It is asking what  pyc files are   Reason 2  Because my secondary questions  Should one delete  pyc files  Or is there a benefit and or necessity to having them around   provide even more information on  pyc files and how one should handle them    Reason 3  Because when a beginner Python programmer like myself wants to find out What is the difference between  py and  pyc files    they will have no problem finding out the answer as they will be guided directly to my question  This helps reduce search time since the question is right to the point

User · Answer

pyc contain the compiled bytecode of Python source files  The Python interpreter loads  pyc files before  py files  so if they re present  it can save some time by not having to re-compile the Python source code  You can get rid of them if you want  but they don t cause problems  they re not big  and they may save some time when running programs

User · Answer

Python compiles the  py and saves files as  pyc so it can reference them in subsequent invocations   There s no harm in deleting them  but they will save compilation time if you re doing lots of processing

User · Answer

A program doesn t run any faster when it is read from a   pyc  or   pyo  file than when it is read from a   py  file  the only thing that s faster about   pyc  or   pyo  files is the speed with which they are loaded     http   docs python org release 1 5 1p1 tut node43 html

[python] What is the difference between .py and .pyc files?

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