gistfile1.py

try:
  import json
except ImportError:
  import simplejson # Python 2.6 support

data = {'some' : 'data', 'goes' : 'here'}

# To dump data as JSON (might have to append ,"w" to the filename)
with open("/home/bob/.prog_settings") as fp:
  fp.write(json.dumps(data))

# To read data back as JSON (might have to append ,"r" to the filename)
with open("/home/bob/.prog_settings") as fp:
  data = json.loads(fp.read())