Where to start with parsing JSON?

Question

If I have JSON data stored in a string called 'data' (e.g. the example below) how do I access specific information (such as messages->unread or pokes->most_recent)?

{
  "messages": {
    "unread": 0,
    "most_recent": 1300047276
  },
  "pokes": {
    "unread": 0,
    "most_recent": 0
  },
  "shares": {
    "unread": 0,
    "most_recent": 0
  },
  "friend_requests": [],
  "group_invites": [],
  "event_invites": []
}

I'd like something like data['messages']['unread'] to work - but of course it won't when my data is stored as a string!

score 5 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 13 '11 at 21:11

5

JSON parser is bundled with Python since 2.6: json module. To unserialize a string, use json.loads, e.g.

import json
data = json.loads(...)

You can also load directly from a file-like object with json.load.

answered Mar 13 '11 at 21:11

Cat Plus Plus

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Is there a difference between json and simplejson? – 8128 Mar 13 '11 at 21:33
@fluteflute: See here: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/712791/json-and-simplejson-module-differences-in-python – Mark Hildreth Mar 13 '11 at 21:43

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 13 '11 at 21:09

0

You run the string through a JSON parser to turn it into a suitable data structure for whatever language you are using (sets, arrays, strings, etc in Python) . There are a number listed near the bottom of http://json.org/ for a variety of languages.

answered Mar 13 '11 at 21:09

Quentin

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Where to start with parsing JSON?

2 Answers2