jq is very practical compared to writing python programs. It is the workhorse of many of our tests, eg:

https://gitlab.com/nbdkit/libnbd/-/blob/master/info/info-jso... https://gitlab.com/nbdkit/libnbd/-/blob/master/info/info-map... https://gitlab.com/nbdkit/nbdkit/-/blob/master/tests/test-ex... https://gitlab.com/nbdkit/nbdkit/-/blob/master/tests/test-ta...

(I picked a few completely at random from dozens and dozens)