How to Format Data with Python's datetime and JSON Helpers

from datetime import datetime
from pathlib import Path
import json


def format_today(pattern: str = "%Y-%m-%d") -> str:
    """Return today's date formatted with the given pattern."""
    return datetime.now().strftime(pattern)


def load_json(file_path: str) -> dict:
    """Read and parse a JSON file safely."""
    data = json.loads(Path(file_path).read_text(encoding="utf-8"))
    return data


def save_json(file_path: str, data: dict) -> None:
    """Write data to a JSON file with pretty formatting."""
    Path(file_path).write_text(
        json.dumps(data, indent=2, ensure_ascii=False),
        encoding="utf-8",
    )


if __name__ == "__main__":
    sample = {"name": "Beginner", "date": format_today()}
    save_json("sample_output.json", sample)
    loaded = load_json("sample_output.json")
    print(loaded)
    print("File written to:", Path("sample_output.json").resolve())