title: Python - difference between os.access and os.path.exists?
body: <pre><code>def CreateDirectory(pathName):
      if not os.access(pathName, os.F_OK):
          os.makedirs(pathName)
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>versus:</p>
  
  <pre><code>def CreateDirectory(pathName):
      if not os.path.exists(pathName):
          os.makedirs(pathName)
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>I understand that os.access is a bit more flexible since you can check for RWE attributes as well as path existence, but is there some subtle difference I'm missing here between these two implementations?</p>