Problem: Given a JSON object. How to pretty print it from the shell/terminal/command line using a Python one-liner?

Minimal Example: You have given the following JSON object:

{"Alice": "24", "Bob": "28"}

And you want to get the following print output:

{ "Alice": "24", "Bob": "28"

}

How to accomplish this using a Python one-liner?

Method 0: Python Program + json.dump

The default way to accomplish this in a Python script is to import the json library to solve the issue:

Exercise: Execute the script. What’s the output? Now change the number of indentation spaces to 2!

However, what if you want to run this from your operating system terminal as a one-liner command? Let’s dive into the four best ways!

Method 1: Terminal / Shell / Command Line with Echo + Pipe + json.tool

The echo command prints the JSON to the standard output. This is then piped as standard input to the json.tool program that pretty prints the JSON object to the standard output:

echo '{"Alice": "24", "Bob": "28"}' | python -m json.tool

The output is the prettier:

{ "Alice": "24", "Bob": "28"

}

The pipe operator | redirects the output to the standard input of the Python script.

Method 2: Use a File as Input with json.tool

An alternative is the simple:

python -m json.tool file.json

This method is best if you have stored your JSON object in the file.json file. If the file contains the same data, the output is the same, too:

{ "Alice": "24", "Bob": "28"

}

Method 3: Use Web Resource with json.tool

If your JSON file resides on a given URL https://example.com, you’ll best use the following one-liner:

curl https://example.com/ | python -m json.tool

Again, assuming the same JSON object residing on the server, the output is the same:

{ "Alice": "24", "Bob": "28"

}

Method 4: Use jq

This is the simplest way but it assumes that you have the jq program installed on your machine. You can download jq here and also read about the excellent quick-start resources here.

Let’s dive into the code you can run in your shell:

jq <<< '{ "foo": "lorem", "bar": "ipsum" }'

{ "bar": "ipsum", "foo": "lorem"

}

The <<< operator passes the string on the right to the standard input of the command on the left. You can learn more about this special pipe operator in this SO thread.

While this method is not a Python script, it still works beautifully when executed from a Linux or MacOS shell or the Windows Powershell / command line.

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Apple CEO Tim Cook this week reaped nearly $132 million after acquiring and immediately selling 560,000 restricted stock units meted out as time- and performance-based awards.

The Fedora Project is changing the default file system for desktop variants, including Fedora Workstation, Fedora KDE, and more, for the first time since Fedora 11. Btrfs will replace ext4 as the default filesystem in Fedora 33. The Change is code complete, and has been testable in Rawhide as the default file system since early July. The Fedora Workstation working group and QA team have organized a test week from Monday, Aug 31, 2020 through Monday, Sep 07, 2020. Refer to the wiki page for links to the test images you’ll need to participate. Read below for details.

How does a test week work?

A test week is an event where anyone can help make sure changes in Fedora work well in an upcoming release. Fedora community members often participate, and the public is welcome at these events. If you’ve never contributed before, this is a perfect way to get started.

To contribute, you only need to be able to do the following things:

• Download test materials, which include some large files
• Read and follow directions step by step

The wiki page for the kernel test day has a lot of good information on what and how to test. After you’ve done some testing, you can log your results in the test day web application. If you’re available on or around the day of the event, please do some testing and report your results.

Happy testing, and we hope to see you during the test week!

The imminent re-release of Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles Remastered Edition has got us looking back over the long-running and celebrated (and confusingly numbered in the West) Final Fantasy series. Although the entire saga began on Nintendo’s Famicom, there was a long while from the mid-’90s that the mainline games weren’t to be found on Nintendo consoles; remakes on handhelds, yes, but not the new numbered entries.

Thankfully, the situation has been rectified somewhat thanks to numerous re-releases on Switch of games previously only available elsewhere. Although there are a few entries unaccounted for (XIII, MMORPGs XI and XIV, and XV in its full form), Nintendo gamers can now enjoy the majority of the series. With that in mind, we thought a ranking of all the mainline entries was in order, and we’d like your help. Just what are the best Final Fantasy games on Nintendo systems?

Below you’ll find the candidates; registered Nintendo Life users can click on the stars and rate any (or all) of the games out of 10. If you’ve previously rated these games–excellent!–you can just put your feet up. Much like our Top 50 platform polls, the resulting ranking (which we’ll publish soon) will be created from the database of NL User Ratings and is therefore fluid and subject to change, even after publication. If you’re in the middle of a Final Fantasy game and don’t want to rate it yet, no sweat – you can add your score to the game at any time in the future and it will still count and potentially influence the ranking.

We’ve dispensed with the bewildering host of spin-offs, crossovers, remakes and more that form one of gaming’s biggest juggernaut franchises – just the mainline games today, folks. To keep things simpler in voting terms, we’ve only included one version of the games to pick from below. Final Fantasy II, for example, is the Famicom original rather than the GBA’s dual pack of Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls. While remade versions might have altered the base games–sometimes rather substantially–those differences (and preferences) are ripe material for discussion when the results are in.

We’ve also included the ‘demade’ Pocket Edition of Final Fantasy XV; we’re under no illusions and don’t expect it to rank highly, but it’s the only version available on Nintendo platformers. The nature of the ‘voting’ here makes it easy to discount from the final ranking if it doesn’t qualify in your book.

So, big swords at the ready! Let’s get rating…

Rate each Final Fantasy game:

Click the stars below to rate out of 10 each Final Fantasy game you’ve played:

Thanks for rating! We’ll be finding out the results in the near future, but remember: much like our platform Top 50s, the list here is fluid, so even if you miss out on voting before the results are revealed, you can still influence the ranking after publication.

© Nintendo

The Nintendo of America Twitter account recently uploaded a graphic that provides fans with a full-scale shot of all the NES and SNES games you can play when you subscribe to Nintendo Switch Online in this particular region.

It also acts as a reminder that there are now more than 80 playable classics available with “more to come”. Take a look below:

One of the more exciting additions in recent times would have to be Rare’s Donkey Kong Country. Although other regions, like Japan, have received role-playing classics such as the Atlus game, Shin Megami Tensei.

To see the full written list of all the classic NES and SNES games available via the NSO, visit the official website. Of course, to play all of these games, you’ll need to become a member or have access to a free trial.

What other titles would you like to see added to the Switch Online service in the future? What platforms are you hoping will get added to the service in the future? Share your thoughts down below.

It’s been a while since we really heard much about the Sega Ages line, but in a few day’s time, the company will release Technosoft’s real-time strategy game, Herzog Zwei, on the Japanese Switch eShop for 999 yen.

Here’s the announcement from the official Sega Japan Twitter account along with some screenshots:

This game was originally released on the Sega Mega Drive / Genesis in 1989 and inspired future RTS such as Dune II, Warcraft, Command and Conquer and Starcraft. The Switch version will support online play and include various other improvements.

As noted by Japanese Nintendo, Herzog Zwei is also the “last announced” Sega Ages title. 18 other titles are already available:

When Sega locks in a western release date for Herzog Zwei, we’ll be sure to let you know. Will you be adding this to your Switch digital library? What other retro games would you like to see Sega revive? Tell us down below.