in Python I have a number of tools to access files...
        
        if the file is a basic text file, I will use the built-in functions
        if the file is XML/JSON/CSV/etc i will use a module from the Standard Library
        if the file is other format (like YAML, etc) I may need to download a module
           to handle it
           
        to read/write a basic text/binary file using the built-in functions
        I need to answer a few questions:
        
        1) where is the file, I need the path to it
           I can put the file in the same folder the Python code is it, and
           call the file by name (this is a relative path)
           
           name = "States.txt"
           
           fh = open(name)
           print(fh.readline())
           fh.close()
           
        2) I could put the file in a folder and create a "literal" path to the 
            file
            
           name = r"C:\Users\Jonathan\PycharmProjects\Play\data\States.txt"
           
           fh = open(name)
           print(fh.readline())
           fh.close()
           
        3) I could ask the Python runtime to build the path to the file
        
           import os
        
           name = os.path.join('c:','\\', 'Users', 'Jonathan', 'PycharmProjects','Play','data','States.txt')
           print(name)
        
           fh = open(name)
           print(fh.readline())
           fh.close()
           
       ----------------------------------------------------------------
       
       once I open the file and have a FileHandler (pointer) I can
       
       A) read a single line:
           record = fh.readline()
           
       B) read all the lines into a list
           records = fh.readlines()
           
       C) read a "chunk" of the file as an array of bytes
           data = fh.read(100)
           
       D) I can write a single line to the file like:
            print("...",file=fh)
            fh.write("...")  <- WARNING this will NOT add a newline to the data
            
       E) I can write a List of line to the file
            fh.writelines(list)
            
            
       ------------------------------------------------------
       
       when I open the file
          open("path", 'options')  <- the options include:
          
          r -> open for read
          w -> open for write
          x -> open for write exclusive (if the file already exists this will fail)
          t -> open as text file
          b -> open as binary file
          
          for example:
          fh = open(name, 'rt') (read/text)
          fh = open(name, 'wb') (write/binary)