5 Practical Python Scripts for Everyday Tasks: Boost Productivity with Automation

 Python’s simplicity and vast ecosystem of libraries make it ideal for automating repetitive tasks. Whether you’re a developer, data analyst, or casual user, these 5 scripts solve common problems efficiently. Let’s dive into each with code examples and use cases.

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1. File Organizer: Sort Files by Extension

Problem: Cluttered downloads or desktop folders with mixed file types (PDFs, images, docs).
Solution: A script that automatically moves files into subfolders based on their extensions.

python
import os
import shutil
 
def organize_files(directory):
    # Supported file types and their target folders
    folders = {
        'images': ['.jpg', '.jpeg', '.png', '.gif'],
        'documents': ['.pdf', '.docx', '.txt'],
        'archives': ['.zip', '.rar', '.tar'],
        'code': ['.py', '.js', '.html', '.css']
    }
    
    # Create folders if they don't exist
    for folder in folders.keys():
        os.makedirs(os.path.join(directory, folder), exist_ok=True)
    
    # Move files
    for filename in os.listdir(directory):
        file_path = os.path.join(directory, filename)
        if os.path.isfile(file_path):
            for folder, extensions in folders.items():
                if any(filename.lower().endswith(ext) for ext in extensions):
                    shutil.move(file_path, os.path.join(directory, folder, filename))
                    break
 
# Usage
organize_files(r'C:\Users\YourName\Downloads')  # Replace with your path

Key Features:

• Uses os and shutil for file operations.
• Handles multiple file types with a dictionary.
• Skips directories and only moves files.

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2. Web Scraper: Extract Product Prices from E-commerce Sites

Problem: Manually checking prices across multiple websites is time-consuming.
Solution: A script that scrapes product prices using requests and BeautifulSoup.

python
import requests
from bs4 import BeautifulSoup
 
def scrape_prices(url, product_class):
    headers = {
        'User-Agent': 'Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36'
    }
    
    try:
        response = requests.get(url, headers=headers)
        soup = BeautifulSoup(response.text, 'html.parser')
        prices = soup.find_all(class_=product_class)  # Adjust selector as needed
        
        for price in prices[:5]:  # Print first 5 results
            print(f"Price: {price.get_text(strip=True)}")
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Error scraping {url}: {e}")
 
# Example: Scrape Amazon (adjust class name)
scrape_prices('https://www.amazon.com/s?k=laptop', 'a-price-whole')

Key Features:

• Includes a User-Agent header to avoid blocking.
• Uses CSS selectors to target price elements.
• Error handling for robustness.

Note: Always check a website’s robots.txt and terms of service before scraping.

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3. PDF Merger: Combine Multiple PDFs into One

Problem: Merging PDFs manually with Adobe Acrobat is tedious.
Solution: A script using PyPDF2 to merge files in seconds.

python
from PyPDF2 import PdfMerger
import os
 
def merge_pdfs(folder_path, output_filename):
    merger = PdfMerger()
    
    for filename in os.listdir(folder_path):
        if filename.lower().endswith('.pdf'):
            file_path = os.path.join(folder_path, filename)
            merger.append(file_path)
    
    merger.write(os.path.join(folder_path, output_filename))
    merger.close()
    print(f"Merged PDF saved as {output_filename}")
 
# Usage
merge_pdfs(r'C:\Users\YourName\Documents\PDFs', 'combined.pdf')

Key Features:

• Processes all PDFs in a folder recursively.
• Preserves original page order.
• Lightweight alternative to GUI tools.

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4. Auto Email Sender: Send Personalized Emails at Scale

Problem: Sending hundreds of emails manually is error-prone.
Solution: A script using smtplib and email.mime to automate bulk emails.

python
import smtplib
from email.mime.text import MIMEText
from email.mime.multipart import MIMEMultipart
import pandas as pd
 
def send_bulk_emails(csv_path, subject, template):
    # Load recipient data (e.g., name, email)
    df = pd.read_csv(csv_path)
    
    # SMTP settings (replace with your credentials)
    smtp_server = 'smtp.gmail.com'
    smtp_port = 587
    sender_email = 'your_email@gmail.com'
    password = 'your_password'  # Use environment variables in production!
    
    with smtplib.SMTP(smtp_server, smtp_port) as server:
        server.starttls()
        server.login(sender_email, password)
        
        for _, row in df.iterrows():
            msg = MIMEMultipart()
            msg['From'] = sender_email
            msg['To'] = row['email']
            msg['Subject'] = subject
            
            # Personalize email body
            body = template.format(name=row['name'])
            msg.attach(MIMEText(body, 'plain'))
            
            server.send_message(msg)
            print(f"Sent to {row['email']}")
 
# Example usage
template = """Hi {name},
 
Thank you for your interest in our service!
 
Best regards,
Team"""
 
send_bulk_emails('recipients.csv', 'Welcome Offer', template)

Key Features:

• Uses Pandas for CSV handling.
• Supports HTML/plain text emails.
• Secure TLS encryption for SMTP.

Security Tip: Store credentials in environment variables or a .env file.

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5. Password Generator: Create Strong, Random Passwords

Problem: Weak passwords compromise security.
Solution: A script generating cryptographically secure passwords with secrets.

python
import secrets
import string
 
def generate_password(length=12, use_symbols=True):
    chars = string.ascii_letters + string.digits
    if use_symbols:
        chars += '!@#$%^&*'
    
    password = ''.join(secrets.choice(chars) for _ in range(length))
    return password
 
# Generate and print 5 passwords
for _ in range(5):
    print(generate_password())

Key Features:

• Uses secrets (safer than random for cryptography).
• Customizable length and symbol inclusion.
• No external dependencies.

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Conclusion: Why Automate with Python?

These scripts demonstrate Python’s power in solving everyday problems:

• File Organizer: Saves hours of manual sorting.
• Web Scraper: Enables price tracking without ads.
• PDF Merger: Replaces expensive software.
• Email Sender: Streamlines marketing campaigns.
• Password Generator: Enhances cybersecurity.

Next Steps:

1. Modify scripts to fit your workflow (e.g., add GUI with tkinter).
2. Schedule tasks with cron (Linux) or Task Scheduler (Windows).
3. Explore libraries like openpyxl (Excel), selenium (browser automation), or fastapi (API development).

Happy automating! 🚀