What is the difference between shutil.copy() and shutil.copy2()?

When copying files, the shutil.copy() function is often used. Today I asked the ChatGPT teacher and gave the shutil.copy2() function. Baidu found that there is still a certain difference between the two. details as follows:

~~The following content comes from the answer of ChatGPT~~

shutil.copy2()and shutil.copy()are both functions in the Python standard library shutilmodule for file copying, but there are some differences between them:

1. Copy metadata:

   • shutil.copy2(src, dst): When copying files, keep the metadata of the source files as much as possible, including file permissions, timestamps, etc.
   • shutil.copy(src, dst): When copying a file, the metadata of the source file is not preserved, only the content of the file is copied.

2. Degree of metadata retention:

   • shutil.copy2()The metadata of the source file is preserved as much as possible, but in some cases, operating system and file system limitations may prevent some metadata from being fully preserved.
   • shutil.copy()No metadata is preserved, only the content of the file is copied.

shutil.copy2()and shutil.copy()are both functions in the Python standard library shutilmodule for file copying, but there are some differences between them:

1. Copy metadata:

   • shutil.copy2(src, dst): When copying files, keep the metadata of the source files as much as possible, including file permissions, timestamps, etc.
   • shutil.copy(src, dst): When copying a file, the metadata of the source file is not preserved, only the content of the file is copied.

2. Degree of metadata retention:

   • shutil.copy2()The metadata of the source file is preserved as much as possible, but in some cases, operating system and file system limitations may prevent some metadata from being fully preserved.
   • shutil.copy()No metadata is preserved, only the content of the file is copied.

3. Usage scenarios:

   • Useful if you wish to preserve as much source file metadata as possible while copying files shutil.copy2().
   • Can be used if you only care about file content and not metadata, or need to ignore metadata in some cases shutil.copy().

For example, if you need to copy a file from one directory to another while preserving metadata such as the file's modification time, you can use shutil.copy2(). Can be used if you only care about the contents of the file shutil.copy().

Example use shutil.copy2():

import shutil

src_file = 'source.txt'
dst_folder = 'destination_folder'

shutil.copy2(src_file, dst_folder)

Example use shutil.copy():

import shutil

src_file = 'source.txt'
dst_folder = 'destination_folder'

shutil.copy(src_file, dst_folder)