Python sending dictionary through TCP

Question

I'm a python beginner, and I'm curious how can I send a dictionary through TCP

Answer 1

You should serialize it with pickle:

import pickle
dict = {...}
tcp_send(pickle.dumps(dict))

And on the other end:

import pickle
dict = pickle.loads(tcp_recieve())

If the other end is not written in python, you can use a data serialization format, like xml, json or yaml.

Answer 2

You can use pickle to convert any Python object (including a dictionary) to a byte stream, which can then be sent over TCP and un-pickled on the receiving end.

Alternatively, you can use json, which isn't dependent on the receiving end being a Python client.

Answer 3

Pickle is considered insecure for sending data structures across connections as the object can never be trustfully reconstructed. This is why yaml, json or any other format is considered preferable.