If you are just trying to serialize a list to disk for later use by the same python app, you should be pickleing the list --> https://docs.python.org/3/library/pickle.html ``` import pickle with open('outfile', 'wb') as fp: pickle.dump(itemlist, fp) ``` To read it back: ``` with open ('outfile', 'rb') as fp: itemlist = pickle.load(fp) ```