In this tutorial you‘ll learn how to read and write JSON-encoded data using Python.
You‘ll see hands-on examples of working with Python‘s built-in “json“ module all the way up
to encoding and decoding custom objects.

Working With JSON Data in Python

The full-form of JSON is JavaScript Object Notation. It means that a script (executable) file which is made of text in a programming language, is used to store and transfer the data. Python supports JSON through a built-in package called json.

Introduction of JSON in Python :

JSON is a syntax for storing and exchanging data.

JSON is text, written with JavaScript object notation.

Python has a built-in package called json, which can be used to work with JSON data.

Example

Import the json module:

import json

Parse JSON – Convert from JSON to Python

If you have a JSON string, you can parse it by using the json.loads() method.

Example

Convert from JSON to Python:

import json

# some JSON:
x =  '{ "name":"John", "age":32, "salary":60000}'

# parse x:
y = json.loads(x)

# the result is a Python dictionary:
print(y["age"])

#OUTPUT
32

Convert from Python to JSON

If you have a Python object, you can convert it into a JSON string by using the json.dumps() method.

Example

Convert from Python to JSON:

import json

# a Python object (dict):
x = {
  "name": "John",
  "age": 32,
  "salary": 60000
}

# convert into JSON:
y = json.dumps(x)

# the result is a JSON string:
print(y) 

//OUTPUT
{"name": "John", "age": 32, "salary": 60000}

You can convert Python objects of the following types, into JSON strings:

• dict
• list
• tuple
• string
• int
• float
• True
• False
• None

Example

Convert Python objects into JSON strings, and print the values:

import json

print(json.dumps({"name": "John", "age": 32}))
print(json.dumps(["apple", "bananas"]))
print(json.dumps(("apple", "bananas")))
print(json.dumps("welcome"))
print(json.dumps(52))
print(json.dumps(32.76))
print(json.dumps(True))
print(json.dumps(False))
print(json.dumps(None)) 


#OUTPUT

{"name": "John", "age": 32}
["apple", "bananas"]
["apple", "bananas"]
"welcome"
22
32.76
true
false
null

When you convert from Python to JSON, Python objects are converted into the JSON (JavaScript) equivalent:

Example

Convert a Python object containing all the legal data types:

import json

x = {
  "name": "John",
  "age": 32,
  "married": True,
  "divorced": False,
  "children": ("Ann","Billy"),
  "pets": None,
  "cars": [
    {"model": "BMW 230", "mpg": 27.5},
    {"model": "Ford Edge", "mpg": 24.1}
  ]
}

print(json.dumps(x))

#OUTPUT

{"name": "John", "age": 32, "married": true, "divorced": false, "children": ["Ann","Billy"], "pets": null, "cars": [{"model": "BMW 230", "mpg": 27.5}, {"model": "Ford Edge", "mpg": 24.1}]}

Format the Result

The example above prints a JSON string, but it is not very easy to read, with no indentations and line breaks.

The json.dumps()

method has parameters to make it easier to read the result:

Example

Use the indent parameter to define the numbers of indents:

import json

x = {
  "name": "John",
  "age": 32,
  "married": True,
  "divorced": False,
  "children": ("Ann","Billy"),
  "pets": None,
  "cars": [
    {"model": "BMW 230", "mpg": 27.5},
    {"model": "Ford Edge", "mpg": 24.1}
  ]
}

# use four indents to make it easier to read the result:
print(json.dumps(x, indent=4))

You can also define the separators, default value is (“, “, “: “), which means using a comma and a space to separate each object, and a colon and a space to separate keys from values:

Example

Use the separators parameter to change the default separator:

import json

x = {
  "name": "John",
  "age": 32,
  "married": True,
  "divorced": False,
  "children": ("Ann","Billy"),
  "pets": None,
  "cars": [
    {"model": "BMW 230", "mpg": 27.5},
    {"model": "Ford Edge", "mpg": 24.1}
  ]
}

# use . and a space to separate objects, and a space, a = and a space to separate keys from their values:
print(json.dumps(x, indent=4, separators=(". ", " = ")))

Order the Result

The json.dumps()

method has parameters to order the keys in the result:

Example

Use the sort_keys parameter to specify if the result should be sorted or not:

import json

x = {
  "name": "John",
  "age": 32,
  "married": True,
  "divorced": False,
  "children": ("Ann","Billy"),
  "pets": None,
  "cars": [
    {"model": "BMW 230", "mpg": 27.5},
    {"model": "Ford Edge", "mpg": 24.1}
  ]
}

# sort the result alphabetically by keys:
print(json.dumps(x, indent=4, sort_keys=True))