How to Serialize a Python object to JSON without TypeError

Learn effective techniques to serialize Python objects to JSON without encountering the "TypeError: Object of type {Type} is not JSON serializable".
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Serialization is a common task in Python, especially when working with APIs or saving data to files. However, when trying to convert Python objects to JSON format, you may run into the notorious TypeError: Object of type {Type} is not JSON serializable. This can be a bit of a roadblock if you don’t know how to handle non-serializable objects. Here, we'll explore some effective techniques to serialize your Python objects to JSON without running into this issue.

Understanding JSON and Python Objects

JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) is a lightweight data interchange format that's easy for humans to read and write and easy for machines to parse and generate. Python’s built-in json module provides functions to encode and decode JSON. However, not all Python objects can be directly converted to JSON.

int

float

str

list

tuple

dict

NoneType

Trying to serialize any other type, such as a custom class instance, will raise a TypeError.

Handling Non-Serializable Objects

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Convert to a serializable format:

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Use json.JSONEncoder subclass:

Another way is to subclass json.JSONEncoder to handle the serialization of custom types.

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Conclusion

Happy coding!