Extra Credit Step $-10$ points

While tab delimited text files are handy, JSON is a more elegant way to go$.$ JSON allows you to 'serialize' your data structures into a string and dump it to a file or send it over a network. The JSON data can then be loaded back from the file and de$-$serialized into the original data structures. Rather than formatting our data to write it to a tab delimited text file, instead we'll encapsulate it as a dictionary element and dump it to a JSON file. The json module does the heavy lifting for us$.$

$1.$ Copy step$\_3.$py to step$\_4.$py as a starting point.

$2.$ import the json module

$3.$ Since JSON files use a $\text{'}.$json' file name extension, change the file name to be opened from "step$3\_$data.txt$"$ to "forum.json".

$4.$ Modify the 'else' block of the try$/$except$/$else to remove the text file processing and instead call json.load$()$ with the open file object and store the results in a variable, which we can call $\text{'}$ds$\text{'}.$ Note that the results are a dictionary, with a single item named "records" and a records list as a value. Overwrite your records list with the value from ds$["$records$"].$ Remember to close the file.

$5.$ When the while loop exits, remove the code for writing to the text file, but leave the call to open the file for writing.

$6.$ Re$-$create the ds dictionary with a single item. The item's key should be "records" and it's value should be your records list.

$7.$ Call json.dump, passing ds and your file object as arguments.

$8.$ Remember to close the file.

$9.$ Test your work as you did for Step $3.$

$10.$ If all goes well, give yourself a pat on the back. Well done!