Manipulating CSV files with Python

I had a CSV file with over 50 columns of which I only needed 11 columns in a slightly different order. I had been manipulating the file manually but got frustrated after the second time I had to do this repetitive manual task and turned to Python to see if I could write some quick and dirty code. As with most things in Python, it was relatively easy and quick to accomplish this:

import csv
with open("file_with_many_columns.csv","r") as source:
    rdr= csv.reader( source )
    with open("file_with_columns_needed.csv","w") as result:
        wtr= csv.writer( result )
        for r in rdr:
            #
            ## 
            #
            wtr.writerow( (r[2], r[1], r[0], r[3], r[4], r[5], r[6], r[7], r[27], r[44], r[45] ) )

The number in the square brackets corresponds to the column numbers in the original file. Like all things in Python numbering starts with [0] being the first or “A” column. The order of columns in the write statement is the order in which the files will be in the output file.

Hope this helps with your use case.