Python JSON

🧠 How to Read JSON in Python Without Losing Your Sanity (or Your Data)

Welcome to the world of json.load() – your best pal when it comes to unboxing JSON files into shiny Python objects! Whether you’re building apps, scraping data, or just trying to figure out what that mysterious data.json file actually holds… this guide is for YOU.

Buckle up. It's about to get deserializational 😎

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🔍 TL;DR – Show Me the Code

If you’re the kind of person who opens gifts before reading the card, here’s your quick-start gift:

import json
 
with open('file_dir_location/data.json') as fp:
  data = json.load(fp)
 
# The data is of type 'dict'
print(data)

👆 Boom! You just read a JSON file and converted it into a Python object like a pro. 🎩✨

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🧬 1. What on Earth is json.load()?

Glad you asked! json.load() is like your bilingual buddy who reads JSON and translates it into Python.

🎓 Translation Guide: JSON to Python

JSON	Python
object	dict
array	list
string	str
number (int)	int
number (real)	float
true	True
false	False
null	None

Basically, json.load() turns this:

{"name": "AI Bot", "age": 3, "isSmart": true}

Into this:

{'name': 'AI Bot', 'age': 3, 'isSmart': True}

It’s like magic… but better, because it’s Pythonic.

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🧪 2. Reading JSON Files – Let’s Get Our Hands Dirty

🧾 Example 1: Reading a JSON File from the Filesystem

Suppose you have a file named users.json that looks like this:

[
    {
        "id": 1,
        "name": "Sujit",
        "username": "Sujit",
        "email": "Sujit@gmail.com"
    },
    {
        "id": 2,
        "name": "Brian",
        "username": "brian",
        "email": "brian@gmail.com"
    }
]

Your Python script can read it like this:

import json
 
with open('users.json') as fp:
  data = json.load(fp)
 
# list
print(type(data))
 
# Verify read data
print(data)

🖨️ Program output:

<class 'list'>

[{'id': 1, 'name': 'Sujit', 'username': 'Sujit', 'email': 'Sujit@gmail.com'}, 
 {'id': 2, 'name': 'Brian', 'username': 'brian', 'email': 'brian@gmail.com'}]

📌 Note: The root of the JSON is an array, so Python loads it as a list of dictionaries. It’s like a digital address book, but without the annoying paper cuts.

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🌍 Example 2: Reading a JSON File from the Interwebs

Because sometimes your data lives far, far away (in the Cloud ☁️).

We'll use the trusty requests library — think of it as your HTTP butler.

import json
import requests
 
response = requests.get("https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/users")
users = json.loads(response.text)
 
print(users)

🎁 Program output: We won’t spoil the surprise here. Run the program to see a list of 10 beautiful JSON objects—each representing a fake user.

But here’s a sneak peek:

[{'id': 1, 'name': 'Leanne Graham', 'username': 'Bret', 'email': 'Sincere@april.biz'}, ... ]

Yes, it’s fake data, but hey, it works great for testing and learning!

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🎉 Conclusion: Go Forth and Deserialize

Now you know how to:

• Read JSON from a file like a code wizard 🧙
• Talk to web servers and grab JSON from URLs 📡
• Transform raw JSON into structured Python data 🐍

So next time someone says "can you parse this JSON?", you can smile smugly and say:

“Absolutely. Would you like that loaded or pretty-printed?”

Happy Learning & Stay JSON-tastic! 💾✨