Python — A program that converts a CSV file to a JSON file

CSV (Comma Separated Values) and JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) are two popular formats used for storing and exchanging data. CSV is a simple format that stores data in a table-like structure, with each row representing a record and each column representing a field. JSON, on the other hand, is a lightweight data interchange format that stores data as key-value pairs, making it easier to work with in web applications.

Converting data from CSV to JSON format is a common task in data processing and web development. In this article, we will look at how to write a Python program that converts a CSV file to a JSON file.

Requirements

To write the program, we will use Python 3 and the built-in csv and json modules. These modules provide functions for reading and writing CSV and JSON files, respectively. We will also use the os module to handle file operations.

Step 1: Read the CSV file

The first step is to read the CSV file using the csv module. We can use the csv.DictReader class to read the file and store each row as a dictionary. Here's the code:

import csv

with open('input.csv', newline='') as csvfile:
    reader = csv.DictReader(csvfile)
    data = [row for row in reader]

In this code, we open the input.csv file and create a csv.DictReader object. We then use a list comprehension to iterate over the rows in the file and store each row as a dictionary in the data list.

Step 2: Write the JSON file

The next step is to write the JSON file using the json module. We can use the json.dump function to write the data list to a JSON file. Here's the code:

import json
import os

with open('output.json', 'w') as jsonfile:
    json.dump(data, jsonfile)

In this code, we create an output.json file and use the json.dump function to write the data list to the file.

Step 3: Test the program

python csv_to_json.py

This will read the input.csv file, convert it to a JSON file, and write it to output.json.

Example CSV and JSON files

Let’s say we have a CSV file named input.csv with the following contents:

name,age,gender
John,30,Male
Jane,25,Female
Bob,45,Male

After running our Python program, we should have a JSON file named output.json with the following contents:

[
    {
        "name": "John",
        "age": "30",
        "gender": "Male"
    },
    {
        "name": "Jane",
        "age": "25",
        "gender": "Female"
    },
    {
        "name": "Bob",
        "age": "45",
        "gender": "Male"
    }
]

As you can see, each row in the CSV file is converted to a dictionary in the JSON file, with the column headers as keys and the values as values.

Conclusion

In this article, we looked at how to write a Python program that converts a CSV file to a JSON file using the built-in csv and `json modules in Python. We first read the CSV file using the csv.DictReader class and stored each row as a dictionary in a list. We then wrote the list to a JSON file using the json.dump function.

Converting data from CSV to JSON format can be useful in many applications, such as web development and data analysis. Python provides built-in modules for reading and writing both CSV and JSON files, making it easy to convert between the two formats.

Code — Python-A-program-that-converts-a-CSV-file-to-a-JSON-file| Replt

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