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How to Encode and Decode UTF-8 in Python
Convert a Python string to UTF-8 bytes with .encode() and back to text with .decode(), with a simple demo function.
def encode_decode_demo(text: str):
encoded = text.encode("utf-8")
decoded = encoded.decode("utf-8")
print(f"Original string: {text}")
print(f"Encoded bytes: {encoded}")
print(f"Decoded string: {decoded}")
print(f"Match: {text == decoded}")
if __name__ == "__main__":
encode_decode_demo("Hel…How to Validate JSON in Python and Catch JSONDecodeError
A robust Python function that attempts to parse JSON strings and returns a boolean plus either the parsed data or a descriptive error message when decoding fails.
import json
def validate_json(json_string):
"""Try to parse JSON, return (is_valid, data_or_error)."""
try:
data = json.loads(json_string)
return True, data
except json.JSONDecodeError as e:
return False, f"Invalid JSON: {e}"
if __name__ == "__main__":
test_inputs = [
…How to Detect File Encoding: UTF-8 vs Latin-1 in Python
Detect whether a file is UTF-8 or Latin-1 encoded by attempting a UTF-8 decode and falling back to Latin-1.
import sys
def detect_encoding(file_path):
with open(file_path, 'rb') as f:
raw = f.read()
try:
raw.decode('utf-8')
return 'UTF-8'
except UnicodeDecodeError:
return 'latin1'
if __name__ == "__main__":
file_path = sys.argv[1] if len(sys.argv) > 1 else 'sample.txt'
…How to Decode a String with Repeated Brackets in Python
Decodes strings with patterns like '3[a]2[bc]' by using a stack to handle nested and repeated bracket groups.
def decode_string(s: str) -> str:
stack = []
current_num = 0
current_str = ""
for ch in s:
if ch.isdigit():
current_num = current_num * 10 + int(ch)
elif ch == "[":
stack.append((current_str, current_num))
current_str = ""
current_num = 0…How to stream parse JSON arrays in Python
This code demonstrates two generators: one that streams a JSON array as individual chunks, and another that incrementally parses those chunks into Python objects using json.JSONDecoder.
import json
def json_array_stream(items):
"""Generator that yields JSON-encoded values one at a time."""
yield "["
for i, item in enumerate(items):
if i > 0:
yield ","
yield json.dumps(item)
yield "]"
def parse_json_stream(stream):
"""Consumes a stream of JSON fragme…How to Decode Basic Auth Credentials in Python
Decode username and password from a Basic Auth header string using base64 and standard string operations.
import base64
def decode_basic_auth(header_value):
"""
Decode credentials from a Basic Auth header value.
Expected format: "Basic base64encoded(username:password)"
Returns a tuple (username, password).
"""
if not header_value.startswith("Basic "):
raise ValueError("Invalid Basic A…How to Validate JWT Claims (exp, iss, aud) in Python
This code demonstrates how to decode and validate a JWT's essential claims—expiration (exp), issuer (iss), and audience (aud)—using the PyJWT library, returning clear error messages for common validation failures.
import jwt
from datetime import datetime, timezone, timedelta
SECRET = "mock-secret"
def validate_token(token, expected_iss, expected_aud):
try:
decoded = jwt.decode(
token,
SECRET,
algorithms=["HS256"],
options={"require": ["exp", "iss", "aud"]},
…How to Encode and Decode Avro Data in Python (Roundtrip)
Serialize a Python dict to Avro binary bytes and decode it back using the fastavro-compatible avro library.
import io
import json
from avro.schema import parse
from avro.io import DatumWriter, DatumReader, BinaryEncoder, BinaryDecoder
def avro_roundtrip(schema_json, data):
schema = parse(json.dumps(schema_json))
bytes_writer = io.BytesIO()
encoder = BinaryEncoder(bytes_writer)
writer = DatumWriter(schema)
…How to Encode and Decode JWT with HS256 in Python
Implement JWT encoding and decoding using HMAC-SHA256 (HS256) with Python's standard library, including signature verification.
import base64
import hashlib
import hmac
import json
def base64url_encode(data: bytes) -> bytes:
return base64.urlsafe_b64encode(data).rstrip(b"=")
def base64url_decode(data: str) -> bytes:
padding = "=" * (-len(data) % 4)
return base64.urlsafe_b64decode(data + padding)
def encode_jwt(payload: dict, …How to sign and verify JWT RS256 in Python
Generate RSA keys, create a JWT signed with RS256, verify its signature, and decode the payload using the cryptography library.
import json
import time
import base64
import hmac
import hashlib
from cryptography.hazmat.primitives.asymmetric import rsa
from cryptography.hazmat.primitives import serialization, hashes
from cryptography.hazmat.primitives.asymmetric import padding
from cryptography.hazmat.primitives.asymmetric.utils import encode_ds…Browse by section
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- Open a sample, read How it works, and copy the code block
- Run it in the IDE, tweak values, then take a related quiz or tutorial lesson
Samples vs tutorials and challenges
Samples are quick reference — one concept per page. For step-by-step teaching, use our Python tutorials. To test yourself, try quizzes or coding challenges. Clean up style with the Python formatter.