Open the file with any text editor. Add a [ at the very beginning of the file, and a ] at the very end. This will transform the data you have into an actual valid JSON array.
Then use the json module to work with it.
(EDITED CORRECTED VERSION BASED ON COMMENTS, thx @martin-novosad)
import json
with open("example.json") as f:
arr = json.load(f)
# Do nifty stuff with resulting array.
Real Python
realpython.com › python-json
Working With JSON Data in Python – Real Python
August 20, 2025 - How can you read JSON data from a file into a Python program?Show/Hide · You can use the json.load() function to deserialize JSON data from a file into a Python object.
Python
docs.python.org › 3 › library › json.html
JSON encoder and decoder — Python 3.14.3 documentation
fp can now be a binary file. The input encoding should be UTF-8, UTF-16 or UTF-32. Changed in version 3.11: The default parse_int of int() now limits the maximum length of the integer string via the interpreter’s integer string conversion length limitation to help avoid denial of service attacks. json.loads(s, *, cls=None, object_hook=None, parse_float=None, parse_int=None, parse_constant=None, object_pairs_hook=None, **kw)¶
Videos
W3Schools
w3schools.com › python › python_json.asp
Python JSON
Python has a built-in package called json, which can be used to work with JSON data. ... If you have a JSON string, you can parse it by using the json.loads() method.
Top answer 1 of 7
1084
The json.load() method (without "s" in "load") can read a file directly:
import json
with open('strings.json') as f:
d = json.load(f)
print(d)
You were using the json.loads() method, which is used for string arguments only.
The error you get with json.loads is a totally different problem. In that case, there is some invalid JSON content in that file. For that, I would recommend running the file through a JSON validator.
There are also solutions for fixing JSON like for example How do I automatically fix an invalid JSON string?.
2 of 7
135
Here is a copy of code which works fine for me,
import json
with open("test.json") as json_file:
json_data = json.load(json_file)
print(json_data)
with the data
{
"a": [1,3,"asdf",true],
"b": {
"Hello": "world"
}
}
You may want to wrap your json.load line with a try catch, because invalid JSON will cause a stacktrace error message.
Python Examples
pythonexamples.org › python-read-json-file
Python Read JSON File
The JSON data is an array of objects. data.json · [ { "a": 85, "b": 71, "c": 39 }, { "d": 18, "e": 72, "f": 23 }, { "g": 18, "h": 62, "i": 43 } ] import json fileObject = open("data.json", "r") jsonContent = fileObject.read() aList = json.loads(jsonContent) print(aList[0]) print(aList[0]['c']) {'a': 85, 'b': 71, 'c': 39} 39 · In this Python JSON Tutorial, we learned how to read JSON file in Python and access values from the JSON content.
Top answer 1 of 3
23
You're trying to read the string "data.txt". What you want is to open and read the file.
import json
with open('data.txt', 'r') as data_file:
json_data = data_file.read()
data = json.loads(json_data)
2 of 3
11
Try:
data = json.load(open("data.txt", 'r'))
json.loads interprets a string as JSON data, while json.load takes a file object and reads it, then interprets it as JSON.
Zyte
zyte.com › home › blog › json parsing with python [practical guide]
JSON Parsing with Python [Practical Guide]
July 6, 2023 - Python provides several built-in libraries for reading JSON from files, APIs, and web applications. To read JSON data, you can use the built-in json module (JSON Encoder and Decoder) in Python. The json module provides two methods, loads and load, that allow you to parse JSON strings and JSON files, respectively, to convert JSON into Python objects such as lists and dictionaries.
GeeksforGeeks
geeksforgeeks.org › read-json-file-using-python
Read JSON file using Python - GeeksforGeeks
In the below code, firstly we import the JSON module, open the file using the file handling open() function, and then store the data into the variable 'data' using the json.load() function.
Published April 2, 2025
PYnative
pynative.com › home › python › json › python json parsing using json.load() and loads()
Python JSON Parsing using json.load() and loads()
May 14, 2021 - Understand use of json.loads() and load() to parse JSON. Read JSON encoded data from a file or string and convert it into Python dict
freeCodeCamp
freecodecamp.org › news › python-read-json-file-how-to-load-json-from-a-file-and-parse-dumps
Python Read JSON File – How to Load JSON from a File and Parse Dumps
October 27, 2020 - This is a variable that we can use within the with statement to refer to the file object. ... json.load(file) creates and returns a new Python dictionary with the key-value pairs in the JSON file.
Python Guides
pythonguides.com › json-data-in-python
How To Get Values From A JSON Array In Python?
November 29, 2024 - Let me show you another way to extract values from a JSON array is: by using list comprehension. List comprehension allows you to create a new list based on an existing list or iterable. Here’s an example: import json # Load JSON data from file with open('C:/Users/fewli/Downloads/Python/states.json') as file: data = json.load(file) state_names = [state['name'] for state in data] print("State Names:", state_names)
Programiz
programiz.com › python-programming › json
Python JSON: Read, Write, Parse JSON (With Examples)
You can use json.load() method to read a file containing JSON object.
Vertabelo Academy
academy.vertabelo.com › course › python-json › reading-json-files › reading-json-files › json-with-arrays
How to Read and Write JSON Files in Python | Learn Python | Vertabelo Academy
When a JSON file contains an array, then json.load() will load it as a Python list.
Imperial College London
python.pages.doc.ic.ac.uk › java › lessons › java › 10-files › 03-load.html
Python for Java Programmers > Loading JSON files
The json module allows you to easily load a JSON file into its equivalent Python object (usually a dict or list). To load your data from a JSON file, use json.load(file_object).
GeeksforGeeks
geeksforgeeks.org › python › json-loads-in-python
json.loads() in Python - GeeksforGeeks
Explanation: json.loads(s) parses the JSON string s and converts it into a Python dict. ... Return Type: Returns a Python object such as dict, list, int, float, or str depending on the JSON content.
Published June 16, 2020
w3resource
w3resource.com › python-exercises › numpy › read-numeric-data-from-a-json-file-into-a-numpy-array.php
Read numeric data from a JSON file into a NumPy array
Define JSON File Path: Specify the path to the JSON file containing the numeric data. Read JSON File into Python List: Open and read the JSON file using json.load() to load the contents into a Python list.
Bobdc
bobdc.com › blog › pythonjson
Parsing JSON with Python
December 15, 2024 - { "mydata": { "color": "red", "amount": 3, "arrayTest": [ "north", "south", "east", "escaped \"test\" string", "west" ], "boolTest": true, "nullTest": null, "addressBookEntry": { "givenName": "Richard", "familyName": "Mutt", "address": { "street": "1 Main St", "city": "Springfield", "zip": "10045" } } } } ... #!/usr/bin/env python3 import json f = open('jsondemo.js') data = json.load(f) print(data["mydata"]["color"]) print(data["mydata"]["amount"]) # Pull something out of the middle of an array print(data["mydata"]["arrayTest"][3]) print(data["mydata"]["boolTest"]) print(data["mydata"]["nullTe
GeeksforGeeks
geeksforgeeks.org › python › json-load-in-python
json.load() in Python - GeeksforGeeks
August 11, 2025 - Values can be different JSON data types such as strings, numbers, booleans, arrays, or other JSON objects. json.load() function in Python is used to read a JSON file and convert it into a corresponding Python object, such as a dictionary or a list.
Top answer 1 of 3
66
Try this
import json
with open('filename.txt', 'r') as f:
array = json.load(f)
print (array)
2 of 3
20
Based on reading over the documentation again, it appears you need to either change the third line to
json_data = json.loads(text)
or remove the line
text = json_file.read()
since read() causes the file's index to reach the end of the file. (I suppose, alternatively, you can reset the index of the file).