What are the differences between json and simplejson Python modules?
json
is simplejson
, added to the stdlib. But since json
was added in 2.6, simplejson
has the advantage of working on more Python versions (2.4+).
simplejson
is also updated more frequently than Python, so if you need (or want) the latest version, it's best to use simplejson
itself, if possible.
A good practice, in my opinion, is to use one or the other as a fallback.
try:
import simplejson as json
except ImportError:
import json
I have to disagree with the other answers: the built in json
library (in Python 2.7) is not necessarily slower than simplejson
. It also doesn't have this annoying unicode bug.
Here is a simple benchmark:
import json
import simplejson
from timeit import repeat
NUMBER = 100000
REPEAT = 10
def compare_json_and_simplejson(data):
"""Compare json and simplejson - dumps and loads"""
compare_json_and_simplejson.data = data
compare_json_and_simplejson.dump = json.dumps(data)
assert json.dumps(data) == simplejson.dumps(data)
result = min(repeat("json.dumps(compare_json_and_simplejson.data)", "from __main__ import json, compare_json_and_simplejson",
repeat = REPEAT, number = NUMBER))
print " json dumps {} seconds".format(result)
result = min(repeat("simplejson.dumps(compare_json_and_simplejson.data)", "from __main__ import simplejson, compare_json_and_simplejson",
repeat = REPEAT, number = NUMBER))
print "simplejson dumps {} seconds".format(result)
assert json.loads(compare_json_and_simplejson.dump) == data
result = min(repeat("json.loads(compare_json_and_simplejson.dump)", "from __main__ import json, compare_json_and_simplejson",
repeat = REPEAT, number = NUMBER))
print " json loads {} seconds".format(result)
result = min(repeat("simplejson.loads(compare_json_and_simplejson.dump)", "from __main__ import simplejson, compare_json_and_simplejson",
repeat = REPEAT, number = NUMBER))
print "simplejson loads {} seconds".format(result)
print "Complex real world data:"
COMPLEX_DATA = {'status': 1, 'timestamp': 1362323499.23, 'site_code': 'testing123', 'remote_address': '212.179.220.18', 'input_text': u'ny monday for less than \u20aa123', 'locale_value': 'UK', 'eva_version': 'v1.0.3286', 'message': 'Successful Parse', 'muuid1': '11e2-8414-a5e9e0fd-95a6-12313913cc26', 'api_reply': {"api_reply": {"Money": {"Currency": "ILS", "Amount": "123", "Restriction": "Less"}, "ProcessedText": "ny monday for less than \\u20aa123", "Locations": [{"Index": 0, "Derived From": "Default", "Home": "Default", "Departure": {"Date": "2013-03-04"}, "Next": 10}, {"Arrival": {"Date": "2013-03-04", "Calculated": True}, "Index": 10, "All Airports Code": "NYC", "Airports": "EWR,JFK,LGA,PHL", "Name": "New York City, New York, United States (GID=5128581)", "Latitude": 40.71427, "Country": "US", "Type": "City", "Geoid": 5128581, "Longitude": -74.00597}]}}}
compare_json_and_simplejson(COMPLEX_DATA)
print "\nSimple data:"
SIMPLE_DATA = [1, 2, 3, "asasd", {'a':'b'}]
compare_json_and_simplejson(SIMPLE_DATA)
And the results on my system (Python 2.7.4, Linux 64-bit):
Complex real world data:
json dumps 1.56666707993 seconds
simplejson dumps 2.25638604164 seconds
json loads 2.71256899834 seconds
simplejson loads 1.29233884811 secondsSimple data:
json dumps 0.370109081268 seconds
simplejson dumps 0.574181079865 seconds
json loads 0.422876119614 seconds
simplejson loads 0.270955085754 seconds
For dumping, json
is faster than simplejson
.
For loading, simplejson
is faster.
Since I am currently building a web service, dumps()
is more important—and using a standard library is always preferred.
Also, cjson
was not updated in the past 4 years, so I wouldn't touch it.