Get values from nested structures in Python.

json_query.py

def query(q, data, default=None, should_raise=False):
    """ This method allows for a simple recursive queries on JSON fields,
    including Python's native dictionary.

    Sample query:

    data = {
        'user' {
            'aliases': [
                {
                    'name': 'Joe'
                }, {
                    'name': 'Joey'
                }
            ]
        }
    }

    data.query('user.aliases.0.name')
    >>> 'Joe'
    """
    try:
        return _query(data, q)
    except (KeyError, ValueError, IndexError) as e:
        if not should_raise:
            return default
        else:
            raise e


def _query(data, q):
    first, *rest = q.split('.', maxsplit=1)

    try:
        first = int(first)
    except ValueError:
        pass

    data = data[first]
    if rest:
        return _query(data, rest[0])
    else:
        return data