Understanding JSON in python

JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) is the lightweight and widely used format for storing and exchanging the data. it is easy to read write and process, making it popular choice for web api and data storage. python provide the inbuild Json module to work with Json data efficiently.

What is JSON ?

Json represent as the key-value pairs similar to the python dictionary. It supports data types like string, numbers, Booleans, array(list), and nested objects.

Example of the JSON data:

{
    "Name" : "Yokeswaran",
    "age" : 22,
    "isEmployee" : true,
    "Skills" : ["Python","Machine learning","Artificial intelligent","Data Scientist"],
    "Adress" : {
                "Street" : "Vivekanandhapuram West",
                "Town" : "Devakottai",
                "Pincode" : 630303
    
    }        

This structure consists of:

• Strings ("name": "Yokeswaran")
• Numbers ("age": 22)
• Booleans ("isEmployee": true)
• Arrays ("Skills": ["Python","Machine learning","Artificial intelligent","Data Scientist"])
• Nested objects ("Address": {})

JSON operation in the python

1. Reading JSON from a File: json.load()

The json.load() function is used to read JSON data from a file and convert it into a Python object (typically a dictionary).

Example:

import json

with open('data.json', 'r') as file:
    data = json.load(file)  # Reads JSON from the file and converts it into a Python dictionary

print(data)
        

In this example, the JSON file data.json is opened in read mode. The content is then converted into a Python dictionary stored in the variable data.

2. Converting JSON from a String: json.loads()

When you have a JSON-formatted string (for example, from an API response), json.loads() is used to convert the string into a Python object.

Example:

import json

json_string = '{"name": "yokeswaran", "age": 22, "is_student": false}'
data = json.loads(json_string)  # Converts the JSON string into a Python dictionary

print(data)
        

3. Writing JSON to a File: json.dump()

The json.dump() function serializes a Python object as JSON and writes it directly to a file.

Example:

import json

data = {"name": "Alice", "age": 25, "is_student": False}

with open('output.json', 'w') as file:
# Writes the Python object to a file as formatted as JSON
    json.dump(data, file, indent=4)  
        

This example shows how to write the dictionary data to output.json with proper indentation for readability.

4. Converting a Python Object to a JSON String: json.dumps()

If you need a JSON string instead of writing directly to a file, use json.dumps() to convert a Python object to a JSON-formatted string.

Example:

import json

data = {"name": "Alice", "age": 25, "is_student": False}
json_string = json.dumps(data, indent=4)  # Converts the Python object to a JSON string

print(json_string)
        

This example converts the Python dictionary into a well-formatted JSON string and prints it out.

Key Takeaways

• json.load(): Reads JSON data from a file and converts it into a Python object.
• json.loads(): Converts a JSON string into a Python object.
• json.dump(): Converts a Python object into JSON format and writes it to a file.
• json.dumps(): Converts a Python object into a JSON-formatted string.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, JSON is a lightweight data format that's easy to read and use. Python's json module provides straightforward functions to convert between JSON data and Python objects, making it simple to work with data from files or strings. Whether you're reading configuration files or handling API responses, these tools help streamline your data processing tasks.