python - Writing a Top Score to a data file

Question

I am trying to create a file that will hold just one number; the highscore to a game I am writing.

I have

f = open('hisc.txt', 'r+')

and

f.write(str(topScore))

What I want to know how to do is to:

• Erase the entire file
• Get the number in the file and make it a variable in the game
• Check if the topScore is higher than the number in the file, and if so, replace it

Answer 1

Maybe it's my preference, but I am much more used to the idiom in which on initialization, you do

f = open('hisc.txt','r')
# do some exception handling so if the file is empty, hiScore is 0 unless you wanted to start with a default higher than 0
hiScore = int(f.read())
f.close()

And then at the end of the game:

if myScore > hiScore:
   f = open('hisc.txt', 'w')
   f.write(str(myScore))
   f.close()