Open In App

Python – Difference between json.dump() and json.dumps()

Improve
Improve
Improve
Like Article
Like
Save Article
Save
Share
Report issue
Report

JSON is a lightweight data format for data interchange which can be easily read and written by humans, easily parsed and generated by machines. It is a complete language-independent text format. To work with JSON data, Python has a built-in package called json. 

Note: For more information, refer to Working With JSON Data in Python

json.dumps()

json.dumps() method can convert a Python object into a JSON string.

Syntax: json.dumps(dict, indent) 

Parameters:

  • dictionary – name of dictionary which should be converted to JSON object.
  • indent – defines the number of units for indentation

Example: 

Python3




# Python program to convert
# Python to JSON
    
    
import json
    
# Data to be written
dictionary ={
  "id": "04",
  "name": "sunil",
  "department": "HR"
}
    
# Serializing json 
json_object = json.dumps(dictionary, indent = 4)
print(json_object)


Output:

{
    "department": "HR",
    "id": "04",
    "name": "sunil"
}

Python objects and their equivalent conversion to JSON:

Python JSON Equivalent
dict object
list, tuple array
str string
int, float number
True true
False false
None null

json.dump()

json.dump() method can be used for writing to JSON file.

Syntax: json.dump(dict, file_pointer) 

Parameters:

  • dictionary – name of dictionary which should be converted to JSON object.
  • file pointer – pointer of the file opened in write or append mode.

Example: 

Python3




# Python program to write JSON
# to a file
  
  
import json
  
# Data to be written
dictionary ={
    "name" : "sathiyajith",
    "rollno" : 56,
    "cgpa" : 8.6,
    "phonenumber" : "9976770500"
}
  
with open("sample.json", "w") as outfile:
    json.dump(dictionary, outfile)


Output: python-json-write-to-file

Let us see the differences in a tabular form -:

  json.dump()  json.dumps()
1. json.dump() method used to write Python serialized object as JSON formatted data into a file. json.dumps() method is used to encodes any Python object into JSON formatted String.
2.

Its syntax is -:

json.dump(obj, fp, *, skipkeys=False, ensure_ascii=True, check_circular=True, allow_nan=True, cls=None, indent=None, separators=None, default=None, sort_keys=False, **kw)

Its syntax is -:

json.dumps(obj, *, skipkeys=False, ensure_ascii=True, check_circular=True, allow_nan=True, cls=None, indent=None, separators=None, default=None, sort_keys=False, **kw)
 

3. It is used to perform compact encoding to save file space It takes 7 parameters.
4. It is used to skip nonbasic types while JSON encoding It can be used with Lists.


Last Updated : 02 Jun, 2022
Like Article
Save Article
Previous
Next
Share your thoughts in the comments
Similar Reads