ArrayList - Reading a Text File - Python Programming Exercise

def read_file_to_list(file_path):
    """Reads a text file and stores its contents line by line in a list."""
    lines = []  # List to store file lines
    
    try:
        with open(file_path, 'r') as file:
            # Read each line from the file and append to the list
            for line in file:
                lines.append(line.strip())  # Remove leading/trailing whitespace from each line
        return lines
    except FileNotFoundError:
        # Handle the case where the file does not exist
        print(f"Error: The file '{file_path}' was not found.")
    except IOError as e:
        # Handle other IO errors (e.g., permission issues)
        print(f"Error reading the file '{file_path}': {e}")
    
    return None

def display_lines_from_list(lines):
    """Displays the contents of the list."""
    if lines:
        print("Contents of the file:")
        for line in lines:
            print(line)
    else:
        print("No data to display.")

def main():
    """Main function to run the program."""
    file_path = input("Enter the path of the text file to read: ").strip()  # Prompt user for file path
    
    # Read the file and store its contents in a list
    lines = read_file_to_list(file_path)
    
    # Display the lines if the file was successfully read
    display_lines_from_list(lines)

# Run the program
if __name__ == "__main__":
    main()

 Output

Enter the path of the text file to read: example.txt
Contents of the file:
This is the first line.
This is the second line.
This is the third line.