["python"]
How do I get the parent directory in Python?

Could someone tell me how to get the parent directory of a path in Python in a cross platform way. E.g. C:\Program Files ---> C:\ and C:\ ---> C:\ If the directory doesn't have a parent directory, it returns the directory itself. The question might seem simple but I couldn't dig it up through Google.
Python 3.4 Use the pathlib module. from pathlib import Path path = Path("/here/your/path/file.txt") print(path.parent.absolute()) Old answer Try this: import os print os.path.abspath(os.path.join(yourpath, os.pardir)) where yourpath is the path you want the parent for.