Python - When to use file vs open

file, python

Solution

You should always use `open()`.

As the documentation states:

When opening a file, it's preferable to use open() instead of invoking this constructor directly. file is more suited to type testing (for example, writing "isinstance(f, file)").

Also, `file()` has been removed since Python 3.0.

Problem

What's the difference between `file` and `open` in Python? When should I use which one? (Say I'm in 2.5)

Original source