Run Unix Commands and Other Programs within Python

The python subprocess module is a part of the standard python library that enables a user to run a variety of subprocess within python and collect their output and error pipes. It is a wonderfully handy tool that really expands the possibilities of what python is capable of doing.  The tool is intended to build upon and essentially replace a lot of the functionality of the os package which I have found cumbersome to use.  The main commands of the subprocess module include:

subprocess.call-runs a command and returns output and the exit code
subprocess.check_call-runs a command; if exit code is 0 returns output, otherwise CalledProcessError

Here are some simple example scripts to help get started using the subprocess inside python code: