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gh-61745: Clarify os.listdir behavior for empty path #145338

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gh-61745: Clarify os.listdir behavior for empty path #145338

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2 changes: 2 additions & 0 deletions Doc/library/os.rst
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Expand Up @@ -2380,6 +2380,8 @@ features:
entries ``'.'`` and ``'..'`` even if they are present in the directory.
If a file is removed from or added to the directory during the call of
this function, whether a name for that file be included is unspecified.
*path* must refer to an existing directory. Passing ``''`` raises
:exc:`FileNotFoundError`; use ``'.'`` to list the current directory.
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@vstinner vstinner Mar 4, 2026

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I would prefer to suggest omitting the path argument to list the current directory.

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@u-wlkjyy u-wlkjyy Mar 5, 2026

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Thanks for the suggestion. I’d prefer to keep '.' in the docs here.
Omitting the argument is a convenience specific to os.listdir(), while '.' is the explicit path value used across many path APIs. Keeping '.' also makes the contrast with '' clearer: '' raises FileNotFoundError, but '.' means the current directory.
For example, developers explicitly use os.stat('.'), os.path.abspath('.'), and pathlib.Path('.') to refer to the current directory. In those APIs, you can’t express the same intent by omitting an argument. Using '.' here reduces context switching and avoids confusion for readers.


*path* may be a :term:`path-like object`. If *path* is of type ``bytes``
(directly or indirectly through the :class:`PathLike` interface),
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