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Luke Deen Taylor edited this page Jun 19, 2016 · 5 revisions

livejson

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What is livejson?

livejson is a Python library that allows you to cleanly manipulate JSON objects as though they were Python dicts, with your file transparently updating in the background. It's pure-python with no dependencies, and compatible across Python 2 and Python 3.

Why use livejson?

livejson is:

  • Easy: use livejson with the same interface as Python lists and dicts, meaning it can basically be used as a drop-in replacement.
  • Flexible: livejson fully supports complex nestings of lists and dicts, meaning it can represent any valid JSON file.
  • Compatible: livejson works perfectly on both Python 2 and Python 3.
  • Lightweight: livejson is a single file with no external dependencies. Just install and go!
  • Reliable: by default, no caching is used. Every single time you access a livejson.Database, it's read straight from the file. And every time you write to it, the change is instant. No delays, no conflicts. However, if efficiency is important, you can use the context manager to perform "grouped writes", which allow for performing a large number of operations with only one write at the end.
  • 100% test covered Be confident that livejson is working properly

livejson can be used for:

  • Database storage: you can use livejson to easily write flexible JSON databases, without having to worry about complex open and close operations, or learning how to use the json module.
  • Debugging: You can use livejson to back up your Python objects. If you use a livejson.Database instead of a dict or a list and your script crashes you'll still have a hard copy of your object. And you barely had to change any of your code.
  • General-purpose JSON: If your script or application needs to interact with JSON files in any way, consider using livejson, for simplicity's sake. livejson can make your code easier to read and understand, and also save you time.