# 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 <a href="#json-values" id="json-values"></a>

```
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 <a href="#json-best-practices" id="json-best-practices"></a>

**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 ✓
```

L**owercase 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

```python
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**&#x20;

Convert JSON Format/File to Python Object

```python
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))
```