python - How can I convert JSON to CSV?

Question

I have a JSON file I want to convert to a CSV file. How can I do this with Python?

I tried:

import json
import csv

f = open('data.json')
data = json.load(f)
f.close()

f = open('data.csv')
csv_file = csv.writer(f)
for item in data:
    csv_file.writerow(item)

f.close()

However, it did not work. I am using Django and the error I received is:

`file' object has no attribute 'writerow'`

I then tried the following:

import json
import csv

f = open('data.json')
data = json.load(f)
f.close()

f = open('data.csv')
csv_file = csv.writer(f)
for item in data:
    f.writerow(item)  # ← changed

f.close()

I then get the error:

`sequence expected`

Sample json file:

[{
        "pk": 22,
        "model": "auth.permission",
        "fields": {
            "codename": "add_logentry",
            "name": "Can add log entry",
            "content_type": 8
        }
    }, {
        "pk": 23,
        "model": "auth.permission",
        "fields": {
            "codename": "change_logentry",
            "name": "Can change log entry",
            "content_type": 8
        }
    }, {
        "pk": 24,
        "model": "auth.permission",
        "fields": {
            "codename": "delete_logentry",
            "name": "Can delete log entry",
            "content_type": 8
        }
    }, {
        "pk": 4,
        "model": "auth.permission",
        "fields": {
            "codename": "add_group",
            "name": "Can add group",
            "content_type": 2
        }
    }, {
        "pk": 10,
        "model": "auth.permission",
        "fields": {
            "codename": "add_message",
            "name": "Can add message",
            "content_type": 4
        }
    }
]

Answer 1

With the pandas library, this is as easy as using two commands!

df = pd.read_json()

read_json converts a JSON string to a pandas object (either a series or dataframe). Then:

df.to_csv()

Which can either return a string or write directly to a csv-file. See the docs for to_csv.

Based on the verbosity of previous answers, we should all thank pandas for the shortcut.

For unstructured JSON see this answer.