Reading JSON Back

The reverse trip is parsing: taking JSON text and turning it back into a real dictionary or object you can index into.

JSON text to data

PYTHON

import json

text = '{"name": "Ama", "hours": 95}'
record = json.loads(text)

print(record["name"])

JAVASCRIPT

const text = '{"name": "Ama", "hours": 95}';
const record = JSON.parse(text);

console.log(record.name);

Compare → Python's loads means load-from-string. JavaScript's is JSON.parse. Both hand back live data. Note that JSON always requires double quotes around keys and string values, single quotes are invalid JSON.

EXAMPLE

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YOUR TURN

Your turn → Add a third book to the JSON text, then print the title of the last book.

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Syntax has to be exact. Every quote, bracket and parenthesis needs its partner, and in Python the spaces at the start of a line count. One slip and the program won't run; the message will say where.

✦ Round trip

dumps then loads (or stringify then parse) should give you back what you started with. If it does not, something in your data was not JSON-friendly. That round trip is the quickest way to test whether data can safely be saved or sent.

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