title: how to create empty file in python
body: <p>I would like to create an empty file in Python. But I have difficulty creating one..Below is the Python code I used to create but it gives me error:</p>
  
  <pre><code>gdsfile  = "/home/hha/temp.gds"
  if not (os.path.isfile(gdsfile)):
      os.system(touch gdsfile)
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Error I got:
   File "/home/hha/bin/test.py", line 29
      os.system(touch gdsfile)
                            ^
  SyntaxError: invalid syntax</p>
  
  <p>But from the command line, I am able to create new file using: touch </p>
  
  <p>Thank you very much for your help
  Howard</p>