The annoyance here is a feature not a bug. Deeply nested dictionaries, in my experience, are a source of infinite KeyErrors. The problem with using a dictionary as a cheap object is that it's very easy for it to be an object you weren't expecting. Don't nest dictionaries in Python!

So then what are you supposed to deserialize nested data structures like JSON into? Dictionaries are the obvious "right" way, Python's annoying tooling aside.

I'd say that dictionaries are only the obvious "right" way if you're not planning on accessing any of their fields. Otherwise you have some set of expected fields, in which case you can define a namedtuple and avoid a vast array of nasty surprises. It's really easy to initialize a namedtuple from a dict (use ), as long as the dict has the right fields. If it doesn't, and you're planning on using its fields, the fact that this raises an exception is a good thing.

What do you think of this library: https://github.com/selik/destructure

It'll enforce schema and destructure the nested dict/list that results from JSON decoding.

That's like asking, "What data structure should I use for this CSV file?"

Depends on the usage. Sometimes you leave them as nested dictionaries and lists. Sometimes you transform them into tabular data. Sometimes you aggregate, etc.

Namedtuples or classes that represent the data, I'd suggest personally.

I would agree. Namedtuple has an asdict method so that reserialization to JSON is simple; you can do the same for a class.

Developer ergonomics does not (always) mean "preventing effort".

If that were true, there would be no type systems.

Part of ergonomics is simplicity about what the thing you're looking at actually is.

No, it's called being terrible at your job. If you need to add complexity to your project just to save you some typing, you have no concept of what you're doing. It's like an accountant not understanding math.

Complexity can hide in unexpected places and sometimes a dash of complexity in one place can make something in another place much simpler.

I think this library has it's uses. I wouldn't use it uncritically but I wouldn't dismiss it either.