XML to JSON

xml_to_json.py

import json
from collections import OrderedDict
from lxml import objectify

def xml_to_py(el):
    if len(set([x.tag for x in el.getchildren()])) == 1:
        return [xml_to_py(x) for x in el.getchildren()]

    if hasattr(el, 'pyval'):
        return el.pyval

    data = OrderedDict()

    for key, value in el.attrib.items():
        data[key] = value

    for child in el.getchildren():
        data[child.tag] = xml_to_py(child)

    return data

xml = '''<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>
<movies>
    <movie id="1">
        <title>Movie 1</title>
        <shows>
            <show id="11">
                <time>15:00:00</time>
            </show>
            <show id="12">
                <time>17:15:00</time>
            </show>
        </shows>
    </movie>
    <movie id="2">
        <title>Movie 2</title>
        <shows>
            <show id="21">
                <time>16:00:00</time>
            </show>
            <show id="22">
                <time>19:10:00</time>
            </show>
        </shows>
    </movie>
</movies>
'''

py = xml_to_py(objectify.fromstring(xml))

json = json.dumps(py)

assert json == """[{"id": "1", "title": "Movie 1", "shows": [["15:00:00"], ["17:15:00"]]}, \
{"id": "2", "title": "Movie 2", "shows": [["16:00:00"], ["19:10:00"]]}]"""