django - How do I JSON serialize a Python dictionary?

Question

I'm trying to make a Django function for JSON serializing something and returning it in an HttpResponse object.

def json_response(something):
    data = serializers.serialize("json", something)
    return HttpResponse(data)

I'm using it like this:

return json_response({ howdy : True })

But I get this error:

"bool" object has no attribute "_meta"

Any ideas?

EDIT: Here is the traceback:

http://dpaste.com/38786/

Answer 1

Update: Python now has its own json handler, simply use import json instead of using simplejson.

---

The Django serializers module is designed to serialize Django ORM objects. If you want to encode a regular Python dictionary you should use simplejson, which ships with Django in case you don't have it installed already.

import json

def json_response(something):
    return HttpResponse(json.dumps(something))

I'd suggest sending it back with an application/javascript Content-Type header (you could also use application/json but that will prevent you from debugging in your browser):

import json

def json_response(something):
    return HttpResponse(
        json.dumps(something),
        content_type = 'application/javascript; charset=utf8'
    )