5 Python Scripts That Saved Me Hours as a Student Developer

Introduction

As a student developer juggling college, internships, and projects, I've often found myself stuck doing the same repetitive tasks — renaming files, cleaning CSVs, or merging PDFs. That's when I leaned into Python's power to automate the boring stuff. Here's a collection of 5 Python scripts that genuinely saved me hours, and I still use them regularly.

1. Bulk File Renamer

Use case: I had 100+ screenshots named like Screenshot(1).png from lectures, and I wanted to rename them neatly.

import os

def rename_files(directory, prefix):
    for count, filename in enumerate(os.listdir(directory)):
        ext = os.path.splitext(filename)[1]
        src = os.path.join(directory, filename)
        dst = os.path.join(directory, f"{prefix}_{count}{ext}")
        os.rename(src, dst)

rename_files("C:/Users/Me/Downloads/screenshots", "screenshot")

---

2. CSV Cleaner

Use case: Many public datasets I use for college projects are messy. This script cleans them.

import pandas as pd

def clean_csv(input_file, output_file):
    df = pd.read_csv(input_file)
    df.dropna(how='all', inplace=True)
    df.columns = df.columns.str.strip()
    df.to_csv(output_file, index=False)

clean_csv("raw_data.csv", "cleaned_data.csv")

---

3. Email Reminder Bot

Use case: I once missed a submission deadline. Now I set reminders via email using Python.

import smtplib
from email.message import EmailMessage

def send_reminder(subject, body, to_email):
    msg = EmailMessage()
    msg.set_content(body)
    msg['Subject'] = subject
    msg['From'] = 'your_email@example.com'
    msg['To'] = to_email

    with smtplib.SMTP_SSL('smtp.gmail.com', 465) as smtp:
        smtp.login('your_email@example.com', 'your_app_password')
        smtp.send_message(msg)

send_reminder("Submit Assignment", "Don't forget the 11:59 PM deadline!", "friend@example.com")

---

4. Quick PDF Merger

Use case: For every lab report, I needed to combine multiple PDFs into one.

from PyPDF2 import PdfMerger

def merge_pdfs(files, output):
    merger = PdfMerger()
    for pdf in files:
        merger.append(pdf)
    merger.write(output)
    merger.close()

merge_pdfs(["1.pdf", "2.pdf", "3.pdf"], "merged.pdf")

---

5. Markdown to HTML Converter

Use case: I write project notes in Markdown and wanted to turn them into clean HTML pages.

import markdown

def md_to_html(md_file, html_file):
    with open(md_file, 'r') as f:
        text = f.read()
    html = markdown.markdown(text)
    with open(html_file, 'w') as f:
        f.write(html)

md_to_html("notes.md", "notes.html")

---

Final Thoughts

These scripts may be small, but the time they've saved is massive. If you're just getting into Python, build scripts that solve your own problems — that’s where the real learning happens. Automation isn't just about productivity; it’s about freeing yourself to focus on what matters most: building, learning, and growing as a developer.