A JSON file is a file that stores simple data structures and objects in JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) format, which is a standard data interchange format. It is primarily used for transmitting data between a web application and a server.A JSON object contains data in the form of a key/value pair. The keys are strings and the values are the JSON types. Keys and values are separated by a colon. Each entry (key/value pair) is separated by a comma. JSON files are lightweight, text-based, human-readable, and can be edited using a text editor.
Note: For more information, refer to Working With JSON Data in Python
XML is a markup language which is designed to store data. It is case sensitive. XML offers you to define markup elements and generate customized markup language. The basic unit in the XML is known as an element. The XML language has no predefined tags. It simplifies data sharing, data transport, platform changes, data availability Extension of an XML file is .xml
Note: For more information, refer to XML | Basics
Both JSON and XML file format are used for transferring data between client and server.
However, they both serve the same purpose though differ in their on way.
Comparison between JSON and XML
| JSON | XML |
|---|---|
| JSON object has a type | XML data is typeless |
| JSON types: string, number, array, Boolean | All XML data should be string |
| Data is readily accessible as JSON objects | XML data needs to be parsed |
| JSON is supported by most browsers | Cross-browser XML parsing can be tricky |
| JSON has no display capabilities | XML offers the capability to display data because it is a markup language |
| JSON supports only text and number data type. | XML support various data types such as number, text, images, charts, graphs, etc. It also provides options for transferring the structure or format of the data with actual data. |
| Retrieving value is easy | Retrieving value is difficult |
| Supported by many Ajax toolkit | Not fully supported by Ajax toolkit |
| A fully automated way of deserializing/serializing JavaScript | Developers have to write JavaScript code to serialize/de-serialize from XML |
| Native support for object | The object has to be express by conventions – mostly missed use of attributes and elements. |
| It supports only UTF-8 encoding. | It supports various encoding |
| It doesn’t support comments. | It supports comments. |
| JSON files are easy to read as compared to XML. | XML documents are relatively more difficult to read and interpret. |
| It does not provide any support for namespaces | It supports namespaces. |
| It is less secured. | It is more secure than JSON. |
Handling JSON in Python 3
To handle the JSON file format, Python provides a module named json.
STEP 1: import the json module
import json as JS
STEP 2: import xml.etree.ElementTree module
import xml.etree.ElementTree as ET
STEP 3: Read the json file
here, “data” is the variable in which we have loaded our JSON data.
with open("quiz.json", "r") as json_file:
data = JS.load(json_file);
STEP 4: Build the root element
Every xml file must have exactly one root element
root = ET.Element("quiz")
STEP 5: Build the subelements of the root
SubElement takes two parameters:
- root- It is the name of the variable where root element is stored.
- subelement_name: It is the name of subelement.Example:
Maths = ET.SubElement(root, "maths")
STEP 6: Build the tree of xml document
tree = ET.ElementTree(root)
STEP 7: Write the xml to quiz.xml file
tree.write("quiz.xml")
Note : XML elements does not support integer values so we need to convert them to string.
Example:
JSON File:
# Program to read JSON file # and generate its XML file # Importing json module and xml# module provided by pythonimport json as JSimport xml.etree.ElementTree as ET # Opening JSON file in read modewith open("myfile3.json", "r") as json_file: # loading json file data # to variable data data = JS.load(json_file); # Building the root element # of the xml file root = ET.Element("quiz") # Building the sub root elements # We don't add text since the value # associated with subelement is a # python dictionary Maths = ET.SubElement(root, "maths") # Building subelement of maths as q1 Q1 = ET.SubElement(Maths, "q1") ET.SubElement(Q1, "question"). text = data["quiz"]["maths"]["q1"]["question"] # Building multiple subelements with name options to hold different values # Xml elements cannot hold integer values so we need to # convert them to string ET.SubElement(Q1, "options").text = str(data["quiz"] ["maths"]["q1"] ["options"][0]) ET.SubElement(Q1, "options").text = str(data["quiz"] ["maths"]["q1"] ["options"][1]) ET.SubElement(Q1, "options").text = str(data["quiz"] ["maths"]["q1"] ["options"][2]) ET.SubElement(Q1, "options").text = str(data["quiz"] ["maths"]["q1"] ["options"][3]) ET.SubElement(Q1, "answer").text = str(data["quiz"] ["maths"]["q1"] ["answer"]) # Building subelement of maths as q2 Q2 = ET.SubElement(Maths, "q2") ET.SubElement(Q2, "question").text = data["quiz"] ["maths"]["q2"]["question"] # Building multiple subelements # with name options to hold # different values ET.SubElement(Q2, "options").text = str(data["quiz"] ["maths"] ["q2"] ["options"][0]) ET.SubElement(Q2, "options").text = str(data["quiz"] ["maths"] ["q2"] ["options"][1]) ET.SubElement(Q2, "options").text = str(data["quiz"] ["maths"]["q2"] ["options"][2]) ET.SubElement(Q2, "options").text = str(data["quiz"] ["maths"]["q2"] ["options"][3]) ET.SubElement(Q2, "answer").text = str(data["quiz"] ["maths"]["q2"] ["answer"]) # Building the tree of the xml # elements using the root element tree = ET.ElementTree(root) # Writing the xml to output file tree.write("quiz.xml") |
Output:
