Parsing Nested JSON in Python | Dataford Interview Questions

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Problem

Perficient data pipelines often receive nested JSON payloads from Adobe Experience Manager and other content systems. Write a function that flattens a JSON object into a dictionary whose keys identify each leaf value by its path.

Formal Specification

Implement flatten_json(data), where data is a JSON-compatible object represented by a Python dictionary. Traverse nested dictionaries and lists:

Join dictionary keys with ..
Represent list positions with bracket notation, such as items[0].
Store primitive values and None at their complete paths.
Treat an empty dictionary or list as a leaf and store it unchanged.
The root object itself is not assigned a path. An empty root object returns {}.

Dictionary keys contain only letters, digits, and underscores, so path escaping is not required. Return a new dictionary. Output key order is not significant.

Constraints

The root value is a dictionary.
1 <= number of JSON values <= 10^4.
Nesting depth is at most 100.
Values are valid JSON types: dictionaries, lists, strings, numbers, booleans, and None.
Dictionary keys contain only letters, digits, and underscores.

Function Signature

def flatten_json(data):