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How to compare two JSON objects with the same elements in a different order equal?

stackoverflow.com › questions › 25851183 › how-to-compare-two-json-objects-with-the-same-elements-in-a-different-order-equa

If you want two objects with the same elements but in a different order to compare equal, then the obvious thing to do is compare sorted copies of them - for instance, for the dictionaries represented by your JSON strings a and b:

import json

a = json.loads("""
{
    "errors": [
        {"error": "invalid", "field": "email"},
        {"error": "required", "field": "name"}
    ],
    "success": false
}
""")

b = json.loads("""
{
    "success": false,
    "errors": [
        {"error": "required", "field": "name"},
        {"error": "invalid", "field": "email"}
    ]
}
""")

>>> sorted(a.items()) == sorted(b.items())
False

... but that doesn't work, because in each case, the "errors" item of the top-level dict is a list with the same elements in a different order, and sorted() doesn't try to sort anything except the "top" level of an iterable.

To fix that, we can define an ordered function which will recursively sort any lists it finds (and convert dictionaries to lists of (key, value) pairs so that they're orderable):

def ordered(obj):
    if isinstance(obj, dict):
        return sorted((k, ordered(v)) for k, v in obj.items())
    if isinstance(obj, list):
        return sorted(ordered(x) for x in obj)
    else:
        return obj

If we apply this function to a and b, the results compare equal:

>>> ordered(a) == ordered(b)
True

Answer from Zero Piraeus on Stack Overflow

Stack Overflow

stackoverflow.com › questions › 25851183 › how-to-compare-two-json-objects-with-the-same-elements-in-a-different-order-equa

python - How to compare two JSON objects with the same elements in a different order equal? - Stack Overflow

Top answer

1 of 12

225

If you want two objects with the same elements but in a different order to compare equal, then the obvious thing to do is compare sorted copies of them - for instance, for the dictionaries represented by your JSON strings a and b:

import json

a = json.loads("""
{
    "errors": [
        {"error": "invalid", "field": "email"},
        {"error": "required", "field": "name"}
    ],
    "success": false
}
""")

b = json.loads("""
{
    "success": false,
    "errors": [
        {"error": "required", "field": "name"},
        {"error": "invalid", "field": "email"}
    ]
}
""")

>>> sorted(a.items()) == sorted(b.items())
False

... but that doesn't work, because in each case, the "errors" item of the top-level dict is a list with the same elements in a different order, and sorted() doesn't try to sort anything except the "top" level of an iterable.

To fix that, we can define an ordered function which will recursively sort any lists it finds (and convert dictionaries to lists of (key, value) pairs so that they're orderable):

def ordered(obj):
    if isinstance(obj, dict):
        return sorted((k, ordered(v)) for k, v in obj.items())
    if isinstance(obj, list):
        return sorted(ordered(x) for x in obj)
    else:
        return obj

If we apply this function to a and b, the results compare equal:

>>> ordered(a) == ordered(b)
True

2 of 12

94

Another way could be to use json.dumps(X, sort_keys=True) option:

import json
a, b = json.dumps(a, sort_keys=True), json.dumps(b, sort_keys=True)
a == b # a normal string comparison

This works for nested dictionaries and lists.

PyPI

pypi.org › project › jsoncomparison

jsoncomparison · PyPI

This package is designed to compare two objects with a JSON-like structure and data types.

      » pip install jsoncomparison

Published May 17, 2021

Version 1.1.0

Homepage https://pypi.org/project/jsoncomparison

Discussions

how to compare two json file line by line using python?

hi, how to compare two json file line by line using python? Actually I am doing it in this way.. import simplejson as json def compare(): newJsonFile=... More on thecodingforums.com

thecodingforums.com

6

May 28, 2013

Diff two large JSON array or objects

Yes Firstly you have to load json data in python dictionary using json module/package After that jsondiff module/package help you check different This module/package also compare list,set,etc.👌 If will return empty dictionary {} if there is no different👍 import jsondiff oldJson = {1:"a",2:"b",3:"c"} newJson = {1:1,4:4} r = jsondiff.diff(oldJson,newJson) if r : print(r) else: print("404,No Different Found!") Output: {1: 1, 4: 4, delete: [2, 3]} 😀 json.diff take 1st arg oldJson means from which we are checking different & 2nd newJson. There are 3 syntax 🎲 : compact ( default ) Any Change in Value of key & new insrted key will display normaly symmetric Inserted & delete show differently change show normally explicit 👀 It is detailed Inserted Deleted Changed Show differently import jsondiff oldJson = {1:"a",2:"b",3:"c"} newJson = {1:1,4:4} r = jsondiff.diff(oldJson,newJson,syntax="explicit") if r: print(r) else: print("404,No Different Found!") Output : {insert: {4: 4}, update: {1: 1}, delete: [2, 3]} 😃 Finally 🔥,Now you doubt about how to access them You can access them using symbols eg. r[jsondiff.symbols.insert] OR from jsondiff import symbols r[symbols.insert] There are some other symbols which use in different compare like list,set, etc Note : if you try using insert in compact & update in compact & symmetric then you will get KeyError 😔 because those not exist there import jsondiff from jsondiff import symbols oldJson = {1:"a",2:"b",3:"c"} newJson = {1:1,4:4} r = jsondiff.diff(oldJson,newJson,syntax="explicit") if r: print("Deleted keys are ",r[symbols.delete]) else: print("404,No Different Found!") Output : Deleted keys are [2, 3] 🥳 Thanks for reading 😂 More on reddit.com

r/learnpython

3

February 26, 2022

Comparing Two JSON Files For Differences

Few words... Pandas, dataframe... More on reddit.com

r/learnpython

13

1

August 29, 2022

Best way to diff two JSON files and write differences data to third file?

The difflib module is a python standard module that has methods to help compare data, such as context_diff() or ndiff(). More on reddit.com

r/learnpython

7

1

August 20, 2017

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reddit.com › r/learnpython › comparing two json files for differences

r/learnpython on Reddit: Comparing Two JSON Files For Differences

August 29, 2022 -

I need to compare two JSON files that contain a list of dictionaries whose basic format is:

[{"protocol": "S", "type": "", "network": "0.0.0.0", "mask": "0", "distance": "254", "metric": "0", "nexthop_ip": "192.168.122.1", "nexthop_if": "", "uptime": ""}, {"protocol": "O", "type": "", "network": "10.129.30.0", "mask": "24", "distance": "110", "metric": "2", "nexthop_ip": "172.20.10.1", "nexthop_if": "GigabitEthernet0/1", "uptime": "08:58:25"}]

Though there are many, many more dictionary items in the list than that shown above. I am not quite sure how best to go about comparing the files to spot differences and return or save those difference to another file, preferably in JSON format, though a CSV would be fine too.

The one gotcha that there may be is I need to exclude, at a minimum, the uptime value as it is constantly changing so it will of course trigger anything looking for changes. Can anyone help get me started please?

Top answer

1 of 5

5

Few words... Pandas, dataframe...

2 of 5

3

For example: data1 = [{"protocol": "S", "type": "", "network": "0.0.0.0", "mask": "0", "distance": "254", "metric": "0", "nexthop_ip": "192.168.122.1", "nexthop_if": "", "uptime": ""}, {"protocol": "O", "type": "", "network": "10.129.30.0", "mask": "24", "distance": "110", "metric": "2", "nexthop_ip": "172.20.10.1", "nexthop_if": "GigabitEthernet0/1", "uptime": "08:58:25"}] data2 = [{"protocol": "S", "type": "", "network": "0.0.0.0", "mask": "0", "distance": "24", "metric": "0", "nexthop_ip": "192.168.122.1", "nexthop_if": "", "uptime": ""}, {"protocol": "O", "type": "", "network": "10.129.30.0", "mask": "24", "distance": "110", "metric": "2", "nexthop_ip": "172.20.10.1", "nexthop_if": "GigabitEthernet0/1", "uptime": "08:58:25"}] def data_massage(data): del data['uptime'] return frozenset(data.items()) data1_set = {data_massage(x) for x in data1} data2_set = {data_massage(x) for x in data2} # I'm assuming by "compare" you mean you want to know what values are in data2 that were not in data1 for item in data2_set - data1_set: print(dict(item))

Medium

medium.com › @abedmaatalla › compare-two-json-objects-python-c2f763c943b0

Compare two JSON objects (Python) | by Abed MAATALLA | Medium

August 4, 2022 - Programmatically, one can write ... writing code and all, This is where deepdiff comes in handy. Deepdiff is a powerful python library to compare 2 dictionaries....

GitHub

github.com › monsur › jsoncompare

GitHub - monsur/jsoncompare: A simple utility to compare two JSON objects.

jsoncompare is a simple Python utility for comparing two JSON objects USAGE python jsoncompare.py <item1> <item2> Where item1 and item2 are either a file or a url containing a JSON object.

Starred by 22 users

Forked by 27 users

Languages Python 100.0% | Python 100.0%

GeeksforGeeks

geeksforgeeks.org › python › how-to-compare-json-objects-regardless-of-order-in-python

How to compare JSON objects regardless of order in Python? - GeeksforGeeks

July 23, 2025 - import json # JSON string json_1 = '{"Name":"GFG", "Class": "Website", "Domain":"CS/IT", "CEO":"Sandeep Jain"}' json_2 = '{"CEO":"Sandeep Jain", "Domain":"CS/IT","Name": "GFG","Class": "Website"}' # Converting string into Python dictionaries json_dict1 = json.loads(json_1) json_dict2 = json.loads(json_2) print(sorted(json_dict1.items()) == sorted(json_dict2.items()))

GitHub

github.com › rugleb › JsonCompare

GitHub - rugleb/JsonCompare: The Python JSON Comparison package · GitHub

from jsoncomparison import Compare, NO_DIFF expected = { "project": { "name": "jsoncomparison", "version": "0.1", "license": "MIT", "language": { "name": "python", "versions": [ 3.5, 3.6 ] } }, "os": "linux" } actual = { "project": { "name": "jsoncomparison", "version": 0.1, "license": "Apache 2.0", "language": { "name": "python", "versions": [ 3.6 ] } } } diff = Compare().check(expected, actual) assert diff != NO_DIFF ·

Starred by 68 users

Forked by 23 users

Languages Python 95.8% | Makefile 4.2%

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PyPI

pypi.org › project › json-diff

json-diff · PyPI

Generates diff between two JSON files

      » pip install json-diff

Published Aug 25, 2019

Version 1.5.0

Homepage https://gitlab.com/mcepl/json_diff

GitHub

github.com › cpatrickalves › json-diff

GitHub - cpatrickalves/json-diff: A Python script that compares two JSON files and shows their differences.

A Python script that compares two JSON files and shows their differences. - cpatrickalves/json-diff

Author cpatrickalves

Quora

quora.com › How-do-I-compare-two-JSON-files-in-Python

How to compare two JSON files in Python - Quora

Answer (1 of 5): In Python, the [code ]==[/code] operator is recursive. So if you read in two JSON files, you can compare them like this: [code]doc1 == doc2 [/code]In python, key ordering is preserved, so these two will be printed differently: [code]d1 = {'a': 3, 'b': 4} d2 = {'b': 4, 'a': 3} [...

Testcult

testcult.com › deep-comparison-of-json-in-python

https://www.testcult.com/deep-comparison-of-json-i...

We cannot provide a description for this page right now

GitHub

gist.github.com › magnetikonline › 845400198a8e4e4648746a675e955af3

comparing JSON data structures. - Python - Gist - GitHub

A function compare_json_data(source_data_a,source_data_b), accepting structures populated with data loaded from json.load() and comparing for equality.

TutorialsPoint

tutorialspoint.com › how-to-compare-json-objects-regardless-of-order-in-python

How to Compare JSON Objects Regardless of Order in Python?

July 20, 2023 - In this article, we will explore three different methods for comparing JSON objects in Python regardless of their order. We will discuss techniques for converting JSON objects to dictionaries, sorting JSON objects, and utilizing the jsondiff third?party library to compare JSON objects.

Deviloper's Blog

deviloper.in › advanced-json-diff-checker-in-python-an-in-depth-guide

Advanced JSON Diff Checker in Python: An In-Depth Guide

September 9, 2024 - Congratulations! You've successfully created an advanced JSON diff checker in Python using the deepdiff and termcolor libraries. You've learned how to compare JSON objects with precision and present the results in a user-friendly and visually appealing format.

JSON Diff

jsondiff.com

JSON Diff - The semantic JSON compare tool

Validate, format, and compare two JSON documents. See the differences between the objects instead of just the new lines and mixed up properties.

The Coding Forums

thecodingforums.com › archive › archive › python

how to compare two json file line by line using python? | Python | Coding Forums

May 28, 2013 - hi, how to compare two json file line by line using python? Actually I am doing it in this way.. import simplejson as json def compare(): newJsonFile= open('newData.json') lastJsonFile= open('version1.json') newLines = newJsonFile.readlines() print newLines sortedNew = sorted([repr(x) for x in...

Readthedocs

recursive-diff.readthedocs.io

recursive_diff: Compare two Python data structures — recursive_diff 1.3.1.dev4+g93bfe0bae.d20251230 documentation

Again, it is very frequently needed to identify where differences are, and apply tolerance to the comparison. This module offers the function recursive_diff(), which crawls through two arbitrarily large nested JSON-like structures and dumps out all the differences. Python-specific data types, such as set and tuple, are also supported.

PyPI

pypi.org › project › json-files-compare

json-files-compare · PyPI

February 5, 2023 - Json-compare is a simple package that allows you to easily and fastly compare two .json files. Support key and multi-key comparison.

      » pip install json-files-compare

Published Feb 05, 2023

Version 1.0.1

reddit.com › r/learnpython › diff two large json array or objects

r/learnpython on Reddit: Diff two large JSON array or objects

February 26, 2022 -

I have a Python lambda function downloading a large excel file and converting it to JSON.

This file will be downloaded at least once a day (as the data can change)

I need to push the changed/updated data to an API.

Is there a way for me to compare two JSON files and output the diff?

It would be perfect if it would output multiple arrays of objects.

1 array of objects that have changed (I don’t care what has changed, just need to know that it has)

1 array of removed/deleted objects.