JSON

Java Script Object Notation.

This is neither a row-based nor Columnar Format.

The flexible way to store & share data across systems.

It's a text file with curly braces & key-value pairs { }

Simplest JSON format

{"id": "1","name":"Rachel"}

Properties

• Language Independent.

• Self-describing and easy to understand.

Basic Rules

• Curly braces to hold the objects.

• Data is represented in Key Value or Name Value pairs.

• Data is separated by a comma.

• The use of double quotes is necessary.

• Square brackets [ ] hold an array of data.

JSON Values

String  {"name":"Rachel"}

Number  {"id":101}

Boolean {"result":true, "status":false}  (lowercase)

Object  {
            "character":{"fname":"Rachel","lname":"Green"}
        }

Array   {
            "characters":["Rachel","Ross","Joey","Chanlder"]
        }

NULL    {"id":null}

Sample JSON Document

{
    "characters": [
        {
            "id" : 1,
            "fName":"Rachel",
            "lName":"Green",
            "status":true
        },
        {
            "id" : 2,
            "fName":"Ross",
            "lName":"Geller",
            "status":true
        },
        {
            "id" : 3,
            "fName":"Chandler",
            "lName":"Bing",
            "status":true
        },
        {
            "id" : 4,
            "fName":"Phebe",
            "lName":"Buffay",
            "status":false
        }
    ]
}

JSON Best Practices

No Hyphen in your Keys.

{"first-name":"Rachel","last-name":"Green"}  is not right. ✘

Under Scores Okay

{"first_name":"Rachel","last_name":"Green"} is okay ✓

Lowercase Okay

{"firstname":"Rachel","lastname":"Green"} is okay ✓

Camelcase best

{"firstName":"Rachel","lastName":"Green"} is the best. ✓

Use Cases:

• APIs and Web Services: JSON is widely used in RESTful APIs for sending and receiving data.

• Configuration Files: Many modern applications and development tools use JSON for configuration.

• Data Storage: Some NoSQL databases like MongoDB use JSON or BSON (binary JSON) for storing data.

• Serialization and Deserialization: Converting data to/from a format that can be stored or transmitted.

Serialize

Convert Python Object to JSON Format

import json

# Python dictionary with Friend's characters
friends_characters = {
    "characters": [
        {"name": "Rachel Green", "job": "Fashion Executive"},
        {"name": "Ross Geller", "job": "Paleontologist"},
        {"name": "Monica Geller", "job": "Chef"},
        {"name": "Chandler Bing", "job": "Statistical Analysis and Data Reconfiguration"},
        {"name": "Joey Tribbiani", "job": "Actor"},
        {"name": "Phoebe Buffay", "job": "Massage Therapist"}
    ]
}

print(type(friends_characters), friends_characters)

print("-" * 200 )

# Serializing json
json_data = json.dumps(friends_characters, indent=4)
print(type(json_data), json_data)

# Saving to a file
with open('friends_characters.json', 'w') as file:
    json.dump(friends_characters, file, indent=4)

DeSerialize

Convert JSON Format/File to Python Object

import json

# JSON string with Friend's characters
json_data = '''
{
    "characters": [
        {"name": "Rachel Green", "job": "Fashion Executive"},
        {"name": "Ross Geller", "job": "Paleontologist"},
        {"name": "Monica Geller", "job": "Chef"},
        {"name": "Chandler Bing", "job": "Statistical Analysis and Data Reconfiguration"},
        {"name": "Joey Tribbiani", "job": "Actor"},
        {"name": "Phoebe Buffay", "job": "Massage Therapist"}
    ]
}
'''

# Parsing JSON to dictionary
friends_characters = json.loads(json_data)
print(friends_characters, type(friends_characters))

## Alternate way to read from file

# Path to your JSON file
file_path = 'friends_characters.json'

# Open the file and read the JSON content
with open(file_path, 'r') as file:
    data = json.load(file)
print(data, type(data))