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200-901 Practice Question: Is developing a Python application that uses the…
A network engineer is developing a Python application that uses the Cisco Meraki Dashboard API. The API responses are in JSON format. Which Python module is most commonly used to parse JSON responses?
⚠ Common exam trap
Cisco often tests the candidate's familiarity with the specific Python module name for JSON parsing, and the trap here is that candidates may confuse the `json` module with other data interchange formats like YAML or XML, which are also used in networking but not for Meraki API responses.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
json
The `json` module is the standard Python library for parsing JSON data, which is the format used by the Cisco Meraki Dashboard API responses. It provides `json.loads()` to convert a JSON string into a Python dictionary and `json.load()` to read from a file, making it the correct and most commonly used choice for handling API responses in JSON format.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
csv
Why it's wrong here
The csv module reads and writes comma-separated text files; it has no JSON parser, so calling it on Meraki API responses fails. It tempts because both handle structured data interchange — correct when ingesting exported CSV reports, but JSON responses require the json module's loads or the response's json method.
- ✗
yaml
Why it's wrong here
The yaml module parses YAML, a different serialisation syntax with indentation-based structure, so it cannot decode Meraki's JSON responses. It tempts because YAML is a superset of JSON and some parsers accept JSON — correct for configuration files, but the json module is the standard choice for API responses.
- ✓
json
Why this is correct
The `json` module ships with Python's standard library and provides `json.loads()` to deserialise JSON text into dictionaries and lists, directly satisfying the requirement to parse Meraki Dashboard API responses. No third-party dependency is needed, unlike `requests`, which handles HTTP transport rather than parsing.
- ✗
xml
Why it's wrong here
JSON is not XML, so the xml module cannot parse it; xml.etree handles angle-bracket markup, not JavaScript object notation. It tempts because Cisco IOS and NETCONF return XML, making xml the right parser for those APIs, but the Meraki Dashboard API returns JSON, which the json module decodes.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This 200-901 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Cisco certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the 200-901 exam.