How to Schedule Python Code To Automatically Run On Your Machine ?

from Mirumee Labs office

As a developer, you’ve probably found yourself in a situation where you needed to run a Python script at a specific time or on a recurring basis. Maybe you’re working on a project that requires data to be collected and processed on a daily basis, or you want to automate some tedious task that you have to do manually. Whatever the case, scheduling and automatically running Python code can save you a lot of time and effort.

There are several ways to do this, but in this article, we’ll focus on three of the most common approaches: using a task scheduler, using a Python library, and using a cloud service.

1. Using a task scheduler:

If you’re using a Windows or Linux machine, you can use the built-in task scheduler to schedule a Python script to run at a specific time. On Windows, you can use the Task Scheduler application, which is located in the Control Panel. On Linux, you can use the crontab command to schedule scripts to run at a specific time or on a recurring basis.

To use the Task Scheduler on Windows, follow these steps:

• Open the Task Scheduler application.
• Click on the “Create Basic Task” button.
• Give your task a name and description, and then click “Next”.
• Select the trigger for your task — for example, you might want to run the script daily at a specific time.
• Select the action for your task — in this case, you’ll want to start a program.
• Enter the path to your Python script in the “Program/script” field, and any arguments in the “Add arguments” field.
• Click “Next” and follow the prompts to complete the task setup.

To use the crontab command on Linux, you'll need to create a text file with the schedule and command to run your script, and then use the crontab command to install the schedule. For example, the following line in a crontab file would run a script called myscript.py every day at midnight:

0 0 * * * python /path/to/myscript.py

2. Using a Python library:

If you want more flexibility or advanced scheduling capabilities, you can use a Python library to schedule your scripts. The schedule library is a simple option that allows you to run a script at a specific time or on a recurring basis. Here's an example of how you can use the schedule library to run a script every hour:

import schedule
import time

def run_script():
    # code to run your script goes here

schedule.every().hour.do(run_script)

while True:
    schedule.run_pending()
    time.sleep(1)

The apscheduler library is another option that provides more advanced scheduling capabilities, such as the ability to run a script at recurring intervals or in response to specific events.

3. Using a cloud service:

If you want to run your script in the cloud, there are several options available. AWS Lambda and Google Cloud Functions are two popular choices that allow you to run Python code in response to specific events, such as a change in a database or the arrival of a new file. These services are easy to set up and offer a pay-per-use pricing model, so you only pay for the resources you consume.

In summary, there are several ways to schedule and automatically run Python code, depending on your specific

I hope you found value in this article and hopefully it will be useful to you.

Thanks for reading! — Follow me on twitter @deveyedeas 💙