What happens after a computer processes lots of information? It needs to take a data dump. Think of it like this: encoding is for writing data to disk, while decoding is for reading data into memory. But in reality, all we’re talking about here is reading and writing. Naturally, deserialization is the reciprocal process of decoding data that has been stored or delivered in the JSON standard.ĭefinitely. You may also hear the term marshaling, but that’s a whole other discussion. This term refers to the transformation of data into a series of bytes (hence serial) to be stored or transmitted across a network. The process of encoding JSON is usually called serialization. Keep in mind, JSON isn’t the only format available for this kind of work, but XML and YAML are probably the only other ones worth mentioning in the same breath. Yup, you got it! It’s nothing more than a standardized format the community uses to pass data around. So, we use JSON to store and exchange data? Have no fear, fellow Pythoneers and Pythonistas. Luckily, this is a pretty common task, and-as with most common tasks-Python makes it almost disgustingly easy. One way or another, you’re up to your neck in JSON, and you’ve got to Python your way out. Perhaps you’re gathering information through an API or storing your data in a document database. Chances are you’re here because you need to transport some data from here to there. Since its inception, JSON has quickly become the de facto standard for information exchange. Watch it together with the written tutorial to deepen your understanding: Working With JSON Data in Python

Watch Now This tutorial has a related video course created by the Real Python team.

Python json csv