To convert a dictionary to a string in Python, use str(data) for readable Python display text, repr(data) for a debugging-oriented representation, or json.dumps(data) for JSON text to exchange with another system. These outputs are different formats, so choose based on what will consume the string.
Choose the right dictionary-to-string method
| Use case | Method | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Quick readable display | str(data) |
A Python string representation intended to be fairly human-readable. |
| Debugging | repr(data) |
A representation intended to be readable by the interpreter where possible. |
| JSON for an API or data exchange | json.dumps(data) |
JSON-formatted text returned as a Python str. |
| Write JSON to a text file | json.dump(data, file) |
JSON written to the file, not returned as a string. |
Python’s tutorial distinguishes str(), which aims for a fairly human-readable representation, from repr(), which aims for a representation readable by the interpreter where possible. See the Python input and output tutorial.
Convert a dictionary to ordinary Python text
Call str() with the dictionary. This is useful for displaying a value or making a quick text representation, but it is not JSON.
person = {"name": "Ada", "age": 36}
text = str(person)
print(text)
# {'name': 'Ada', 'age': 36}Use repr() for debugging
repr() requests the object’s debugging-oriented representation. For a built-in dictionary containing simple values, it may look the same as str(); the distinction is the intended purpose of the representation, not a guarantee that the text will differ.
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person = {"name": "Ada", "age": 36}
debug_text = repr(person)Convert a dictionary to JSON text
When another program, API, or language expects JSON, use Python’s standard-library json module. The Python documentation describes json.dumps() as serializing an object to a JSON-formatted string.
import json
person = {"name": "Ada", "age": 36}
json_text = json.dumps(person)
print(json_text)
# {"name": "Ada", "age": 36}For indented output, and to leave non-ASCII characters visible rather than escaping them, pass indent and ensure_ascii=False:
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json_text = json.dumps(person, indent=2, ensure_ascii=False)Other useful options include sort_keys=True to sort output keys and separators to control whitespace. By default, non-ASCII characters are escaped. Also note that the default allow_nan=True permits the non-standard JSON values NaN, Infinity, and -Infinity. For strict JSON output, use allow_nan=False; encoding such out-of-range float values then raises ValueError. See the Python json module documentation for its conversion table and options.
Write the JSON directly to a file
The names are easy to mix up: json.dumps() returns a string, while json.dump() writes JSON to a file-like object.
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import json
person = {"name": "Ada", "age": 36}
with open("person.json", "w", encoding="utf-8") as file:
json.dump(person, file, indent=2, ensure_ascii=False)Using UTF-8 is appropriate for JSON files; the Python tutorial demonstrates both JSON serialization and file handling in its input and output guide.
Understand what JSON conversion changes
Dictionary keys become strings
JSON object member names are strings. Python’s encoder converts supported non-string dictionary keys to strings, so a JSON round trip is not guaranteed to reproduce the original dictionary exactly. For instance, keys 1 and "1" can collide after conversion. If preserving key types or distinguishing such keys matters, JSON objects may not represent the data as intended.
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Values must be JSON-serializable
Having a value inside a dictionary does not make it automatically JSON-compatible. Values such as custom class instances that the encoder does not support can cause json.dumps() to raise TypeError. Decide how to represent them explicitly, or supply an intentional custom encoder rather than assuming every Python object has a JSON equivalent.
Convert the string back to a dictionary
Use the parser that matches the format you created. For JSON text produced by json.dumps(), use json.loads():
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restored = json.loads(json_text)ast.literal_eval() can parse Python literal and container-display syntax, including dictionary displays, but it is not a general expression evaluator. It can be appropriate for a Python literal string from a trusted source when input size is controlled. Python warns that very large or complex input can consume excessive resources or crash the process. Do not use eval() on untrusted text: unlike literal_eval(), it executes arbitrary code. For JSON input, use json.loads(). See the Python ast documentation and json documentation.
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