{
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  {
   "cell_type": "markdown",
   "id": "0961d098",
   "metadata": {},
   "source": [
    "# Data serialisation\n",
    "\n",
    "If the data is to be serialised flat, Python offers two functions:"
   ]
  },
  {
   "cell_type": "markdown",
   "id": "fbb2b554",
   "metadata": {},
   "source": [
    "## `repr`\n",
    "\n",
    "[repr()](https://docs.python.org/3/library/functions.html#repr) outputs a printable representation of the input, for example:"
   ]
  },
  {
   "cell_type": "code",
   "execution_count": 1,
   "id": "e42c5c0c",
   "metadata": {},
   "outputs": [
    {
     "name": "stdout",
     "output_type": "stream",
     "text": [
      "{'id': 'veit', 'first_name': 'Veit', 'last_name': 'Schiele'}\n"
     ]
    }
   ],
   "source": [
    "data = { \"id\" : \"veit\", \"first_name\": \"Veit\", \"last_name\": \"Schiele\" }\n",
    "\n",
    "print(repr(data))"
   ]
  },
  {
   "cell_type": "code",
   "execution_count": 2,
   "id": "db1d7d73",
   "metadata": {},
   "outputs": [],
   "source": [
    "with open(\"data.txt\", \"w\") as f:\n",
    "    f.write(repr(data))"
   ]
  },
  {
   "cell_type": "markdown",
   "id": "051e66cd",
   "metadata": {},
   "source": [
    "## `ast.literal_eval`\n",
    "\n",
    "The [ast.literal_eval()](https://docs.python.org/3/library/ast.html#ast.literal_eval) function parses and analyses the Python data type of an expression. Supported data types are [strings](https://python-basics-tutorial.readthedocs.io/en/latest/types/strings.html), [numbers](https://python-basics-tutorial.readthedocs.io/en/latest/types/numbers.html), [tuples](https://python-basics-tutorial.readthedocs.io/en/latest/types/tuples.html), [lists](https://python-basics-tutorial.readthedocs.io/en/latest/types/lists.html), [dictionaries](https://python-basics-tutorial.readthedocs.io/en/latest/types/dicts.html) and [None](https://python-basics-tutorial.readthedocs.io/en/latest/types/none.html)."
   ]
  },
  {
   "cell_type": "code",
   "execution_count": 3,
   "id": "2a81b27e",
   "metadata": {},
   "outputs": [
    {
     "name": "stdout",
     "output_type": "stream",
     "text": [
      "{'id': 'veit', 'first_name': 'Veit', 'last_name': 'Schiele'}\n"
     ]
    }
   ],
   "source": [
    "import ast\n",
    "\n",
    "\n",
    "with open(\"data.txt\", \"r\") as f:\n",
    "    d = ast.literal_eval(f.read())\n",
    "    \n",
    "print(d)"
   ]
  }
 ],
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