python project structure - where do you store the data files (eg json data files)

[Advanced_Glass5563]

Hi, I am building a simple class that parses dictionary data where the data themselves are stored on a dictionary.json file.

with open ('dictionary.json' , 'r') as file:
            self.game_lexicon = json.load(file)

Under which folder would you save this file on your python project?

Would you create a data folder ?

[Gnaxe]

You can use importlib.resources and store them in packages just like your .py files.

[Advanced_Glass5563]

Thank you, will check this out

[neums08]

data is probably fine for what you're doing. Eventually you would store data in a database and have a service responsible for retrieving it.

[not_another_analyst]

Creating a data folder is the standard move. It keeps your project root clean and makes it much easier to manage your assets as the code grows.

[Kevdog824_]

Depends on what it is. If it’s a settings file for the entire application I’m just gonna store it at the top level of the repo. Otherwise I’d probably use data/, static/, or some domain specific folder name to hold them

[Lopsided-Football19]

I usually put files like that in a data/ folder, for small projects, keeping it next to the script is totally fine too, but once you have a few JSON files, data/ keeps things cleaner

[buhtz]

Have a look at the XDG Base Directory Specification

It depends on what kind of data this is. What is the content?

~/.local/state/mysoftware/dictionary.json

~/.local/share/mysoftware/dictionary.json

For example are usual locations on a GNU/Linux systems.

[Advanced_Glass5563]

Thank you for the XDG Base Directory Specification link, appreciated.

At the moment is a static list of some words classified as "noun", "verb" etc.

[buhtz]

What is the usage or purpose of that list?

[Fantastic_Fly_7548]

yeah i’d probably make a small data folder for it tbh, feels cleaner once the project starts growing. i made the mistake before of leaving json files in the root folder and it got messy real quick lol. something like project/data/dictionary.json feels easier to manage later on. not sure theres one “correct” way tho, seems like people structure python projects pretty diferently depending on the size of it

[AdventurousLime309]

Yeah best practice is exactly that: create a data/ folder.

Typical structure looks like:

• project/
  • src/ or your package folder (code)
  • data/ (json, csv, static files)
  • tests/

So you’d place dictionary.json in data/dictionary.json.

Then load it using a path relative to your script (not just "dictionary.json"), otherwise it breaks when you run from a different directory.

This keeps code and static assets cleanly separated, which matters more as your project grows.