To read JSON data in Python, use the built-in json module with json.load() for files and json.loads() for strings. json.load() reads directly from a file object and returns a Python dictionary or list, while json.loads() parses a JSON string into a Python object.

For reading a JSON file, the recommended approach uses a context manager to ensure the file is properly closed:

import json

with open('data.json', 'r') as file:
    data = json.load(file)

print(data)

This converts the JSON content into a standard Python dictionary, allowing you to access values using keys (e.g., data['key']). If the JSON data is provided as a string, such as from an API response, use json.loads():

import json

json_string = '{"name": "Alice", "age": 30}'
data = json.loads(json_string)

print(data['name'])  # Output: Alice

When working with large datasets or streaming data, consider using the ijson library for incremental parsing or the JSON Lines (JSONL) format where each line is a separate JSON object. Always handle potential errors like FileNotFoundError or json.JSONDecodeError using try-except blocks to ensure robust code.