Can't recursively delete pyc files from Python project

Question

I can't recursively remove the pyc files from my Python project.

Here is the project:

    Directory: C:\Users\jk025523\projects\ex47


Mode                LastWriteTime         Length Name
----                -------------         ------ ----
d-----       10/07/2016     01:52                bin
d-----       10/07/2016     01:52                docs
d-----       10/07/2016     01:52                ex47
d-----       10/07/2016     01:52                tests
-a----       09/07/2016     21:02            521 setup.py

There are indeed some pyc files inside the tests directory:

    Directory: C:\Users\jk025523\projects\ex47\tests


Mode                LastWriteTime         Length Name
----                -------------         ------ ----
-a----       09/07/2016     21:28            180 ex47_tests.py
-a----       09/07/2016     21:28            721 NAME_tests.pyc
-a----       05/07/2016     10:52              0 __init__.py
-a----       05/07/2016     11:37            140 __init__.pyc

However when I enter this command in PowerShell to remove all the pyc files:

find . -name "*.pyc" -exec rm -rf {}

PowerShell outputs this error:

FIND: Parameter format not correct

Anybody know how I can remove all the pyc files from this Python project?

Answer 1

The command you're trying to use is the Linux/Unix find command, which doesn't work on Windows (unless you have something like Cygwin installed, which I don't recommend). Windows has a command with the same name, but different functionality (works more like grep). PowerShell does not have a find cmdlet or alias. You'd do recursive deletion of files with a particular extension like this in PowerShell:

Get-ChildItem -Filter '*.pyc' -Force -Recurse | Remove-Item -Force