JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) is a popular data exchange format used in web applications, APIs, and various other applications. Python is a versatile programming language that can be used for various applications, including working with JSON files. In this article, we will discuss how to read and write JSON files using Python with examples.

JSON File Format

Before we dive into the Python code, let's briefly discuss the JSON file format. JSON files consist of key-value pairs, where the keys are strings and the values can be any of the following data types:

  • Strings
  • Numbers
  • Booleans (true or false)
  • Null
  • Arrays (ordered lists of values)
  • Objects (unordered sets of key-value pairs)

JSON files are commonly used for storing and exchanging data between web applications and APIs, as they provide a lightweight and efficient data exchange format.

Reading JSON Files in Python

To read a JSON file in Python, we can use the built-in json module. The json module provides methods for encoding and decoding JSON data. To read a JSON file, we first need to open it using the open() function and then use the json.load() method to parse the JSON data.

Here's an example of how to read a JSON file in Python:

import json
# open file name "example.json" and load using json module
with open('example.json', 'r') as f:
    data = json.load(f)

print(data)

In this example, we first import the json module. We then open the example.json file using the open() function in read mode ('r'). We then use the json.load() method to parse the JSON data from the file and store it in the data variable. Finally, we print the data variable to the console.

Writing JSON Files in Python

To write data to a JSON file in Python, we can use the json.dump() method. This method takes two arguments: the data to be written to the file and the file object to write to.

Here's an example of how to write data to a JSON file in Python:

import json

# python dictionary
data = {
    'name': 'John',
    'age': 30,
    'city': 'New York'
}
# open a file "example.json" as dump data
with open('example.json', 'w') as f:
    json.dump(data, f)

In this example, we first create a dictionary data that contains some sample data to be written to the JSON file. We then open the example.json file using the open() function in write mode ('w'). We then use the json.dump() method to write the data dictionary to the file. Finally, we close the file using the with statement.

Conclusion

In this article, we discussed how to read and write JSON files using Python. We first discussed the JSON file format and its common use cases. We then provided examples of how to read and write JSON files using the built-in json module in Python. By using these examples as a guide, you can easily work with JSON files in your Python applications. For more details, visit python documentation.

https://docs.python.org/3/library/json.html