YAML Configuration Reader in Python

This challenge focuses on the practical skill of reading and parsing YAML files in Python. YAML (YAML Ain't Markup Language) is a human-readable data serialization format commonly used for configuration files, inter-process messaging, and data storage. Being able to reliably extract information from these files is a fundamental requirement for many Python applications.

Problem Description

Your task is to create a Python function that reads a YAML file and returns its content as a Python dictionary. This function should be robust enough to handle different data types within the YAML and provide a clear way to access nested information.

Key Requirements:

• Function Definition: Create a Python function named read_yaml_config that accepts one argument: the path to the YAML file (a string).
• YAML Parsing: Use a standard Python library (like PyYAML) to parse the YAML content.
• Return Value: The function should return a Python dictionary representing the parsed YAML data.
• Error Handling: Implement basic error handling to gracefully manage cases where the file does not exist or is not valid YAML.

Expected Behavior:

The function should successfully load a valid YAML file and convert its structure into a corresponding Python dictionary. For example, YAML mappings will become Python dictionaries, sequences will become lists, and scalar values will be converted to their appropriate Python types (strings, numbers, booleans, etc.).

Edge Cases to Consider:

• File Not Found: What happens if the provided file path does not exist?
• Invalid YAML: What happens if the file exists but contains syntactically incorrect YAML?
• Empty File: What should be returned if the YAML file is empty?
• Complex Nesting: The function should handle deeply nested YAML structures.

Examples

Example 1:

Input YAML File (config.yaml):

database:
  host: localhost
  port: 5432
  username: admin
  password: securepassword

api_keys:
  - abcdef12345
  - ghijkl67890

Input to function: "config.yaml"

Output:

{
    'database': {
        'host': 'localhost',
        'port': 5432,
        'username': 'admin',
        'password': 'securepassword'
    },
    'api_keys': [
        'abcdef12345',
        'ghijkl67890'
    ]
}

Explanation: The YAML mapping database is converted to a Python dictionary, and the YAML sequence api_keys is converted to a Python list.

Example 2:

Input YAML File (settings.yaml):

logging:
  level: INFO
  enabled: true
timeout_seconds: 30

Input to function: "settings.yaml"

Output:

{
    'logging': {
        'level': 'INFO',
        'enabled': True
    },
    'timeout_seconds': 30
}

Explanation: Boolean and integer types are correctly interpreted.

Example 3 (Edge Case - File Not Found):

Input to function: "non_existent_config.yaml"

Expected Behavior: The function should raise a specific exception (e.g., FileNotFoundError) or return an indicator of failure (e.g., None or an empty dictionary with a warning). For this challenge, returning None and printing an informative error message is acceptable.

Example 4 (Edge Case - Invalid YAML):

Input YAML File (invalid.yaml):

key: value
  another_key: another_value  # Incorrect indentation

Input to function: "invalid.yaml"

Expected Behavior: The function should catch the YAML parsing error and return None along with printing an informative error message.

Constraints

• The input file path will be a string.
• The YAML file will not exceed 1MB in size.
• The primary goal is correctness in parsing and error handling; extreme performance optimization is not a primary concern for this challenge.
• You are expected to use the PyYAML library. If it's not installed, you should instruct the user on how to install it.

Notes

• Consider using a try-except block to handle potential FileNotFoundError and YAML parsing errors (e.g., yaml.YAMLError).
• The PyYAML library can be installed using pip: pip install PyYAML.
• Think about how you'll represent the success or failure of the function's execution. Returning None for errors and printing messages is a common pattern.