I am looking for a general review of my project at https://github.com/JamesMcMahon/mockjson.py. I have written some Python, but not enough to feel confident in my ability to produce idiomatic code.

Here is the source for convenience,

I am looking for a general review of my project here. I have written some Python, but not enough to feel confident in my ability to produce idiomatic code.

#!/usr/bin/env python

"""mockjson.py: Library for mocking JSON objects from a template."""

__author__ = "James McMahon"
__copyright__ = "Copyright 2012, James McMahon"
__license__ = "MIT"

try:
    import simplejson as json
except ImportError:
    import json
import random
import re
import string
import sys

from datetime import datetime, timedelta

_male_first_name = ("James", "John", "Robert", "Michael", "William", "David",
    "Richard", "Charles", "Joseph", "Thomas", "Christopher", "Daniel",
    "Paul", "Mark", "Donald", "George", "Kenneth", "Steven", "Edward",
    "Brian", "Ronald", "Anthony", "Kevin", "Jason", "Matthew", "Gary",
    "Timothy", "Jose", "Larry", "Jeffrey", "Frank", "Scott", "Eric")
_female_first_name = ("Mary", "Patricia", "Linda", "Barbara", "Elizabeth",
    "Jennifer", "Maria", "Susan", "Margaret", "Dorothy", "Lisa", "Nancy",
    "Karen", "Betty", "Helen", "Sandra", "Donna", "Carol", "Ruth", "Sharon",
    "Michelle", "Laura", "Sarah", "Kimberly", "Deborah", "Jessica",
    "Shirley", "Cynthia", "Angela", "Melissa", "Brenda", "Amy", "Anna")
_last_name = ("Smith", "Johnson", "Williams", "Brown", "Jones", "Miller",
    "Davis", "Garcia", "Rodriguez", "Wilson", "Martinez", "Anderson",
    "Taylor", "Thomas", "Hernandez", "Moore", "Martin", "Jackson",
    "Thompson", "White", "Lopez", "Lee", "Gonzalez", "Harris", "Clark",
    "Lewis", "Robinson", "Walker", "Perez", "Hall", "Young", "Allen")


def _random_item(items):
    return items[random.randrange(len(items))]


def _random_data(key):
    key = key.lstrip('@')
    if not key in data:
        return key
    return data[key]()


def _lorem():
    words = tuple("""lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipisicing elit
            sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua
            Ut enim ad minim veniam quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris
            nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat Duis aute irure dolor in
            reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla
            pariatur Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident sunt in
            culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum""".split())
    return words[random.randrange(len(words))]


def _lorem_ipsum():
    words = tuple("""Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit,
            sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.
            Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris
            nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in
            reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla
            pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in
            culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum""".split())
    length = random.randrange(2, len(words) / 2)
    result = ''
    for i in xrange(length):
        result += ' ' + words[random.randrange(len(words))]
    return result.strip()


def _random_date():
    return datetime.today() - timedelta(days=random.randrange(6571, 27375))

data = {
    'NUMBER': lambda: _random_item("0123456789"),
    'LETTER_UPPER': lambda: _random_item(string.uppercase),
    'LETTER_LOWER': lambda: _random_item(string.lowercase),
    'MALE_FIRST_NAME': lambda: _random_item(_male_first_name),
    'FEMALE_FIRST_NAME': lambda: _random_item(_female_first_name),
    'LAST_NAME': lambda: _random_item(_last_name),
    'EMAIL': lambda: (_random_data('@LETTER_LOWER')
                      + '.'
                      + _random_data('@LAST_NAME').lower()
                      + '@'
                      + _random_data('@LAST_NAME').lower()
                      + '.com'),
    'LOREM': _lorem,
    'LOREM_IPSUM': _lorem_ipsum,
    'DATE_YYYY': lambda: str(_random_date().year),
    'DATE_MM': lambda: str(_random_date().month).zfill(2),
    'DATE_DD': lambda: str(_random_date().day).zfill(2),
    'TIME_HH': lambda: str(_random_date().hour).zfill(2),
    'TIME_MM': lambda: str(_random_date().minute).zfill(2),
    'TIME_SS': lambda: str(_random_date().second).zfill(2)
}


def generate_json_object(template, name=None):
    length = 0
    if name:
        matches = re.search(r"\w+\|(\d+)-(\d+)", name)
        if matches:
            groups = matches.groups()
            length_min = int(groups[0])
            length_max = int(groups[1])
            length = random.randint(length_min, length_max)

    t_type = type(template)
    if t_type is dict:
        generated = {}
        for key, value in template.iteritems():
            stripped_key = re.sub(r"\|(\d+-\d+|\+\d+)", '', key)
            generated[stripped_key] = generate_json_object(value, key)

            # handle increments
            inc_matches = re.search(r"\w+\|\+(\d+)", key)
            if inc_matches and type(template[key]) is int:
                increment = int(inc_matches.groups()[0])
                template[key] += increment
    elif t_type is list:
        generated = []
        for i in xrange(length):
            generated.append(generate_json_object(template[0]))
    elif t_type is int:
        generated = length if matches else template
    elif t_type is bool:
        # apparently getrandbits(1) is faster...
        generated = random.choice([True, False]) if matches else template
    # is this always just going to be unicode here?
    elif t_type is str or t_type is unicode:
        if template:
            generated = ''
            length = length if length else 1
            for i in range(length):
                generated += template
            matches = re.findall(r"(@[A-Z_0-9\(\),]+)", generated)
            if matches:
                for key in matches:
                    rd = _random_data(key)
                    generated = generated.replace(key, rd, 1)
        else:
            generated = (''.join(random.choice(string.letters)
                         for i in xrange(length)))
    else:
        generated = template
    return generated


def generate_json(template, name=None):
    return json.dumps(generate_json_object(json_data), sort_keys=False)


if __name__ == '__main__':
    arg = sys.argv[1:][0]
    with open(arg) as f:
        json_data = json.load(f)
    print(generate_json(json_data))

#!/usr/bin/env python

"""mockjson.py: Library for mocking JSON objects from a template."""

__author__ = "James McMahon"
__copyright__ = "Copyright 2012, James McMahon"
__license__ = "MIT"

try:
    import simplejson as json
except ImportError:
    import json
import random
import re
import string
import sys

from datetime import datetime, timedelta

_male_first_name = ("James", "John", "Robert", "Michael", "William", "David",
    "Richard", "Charles", "Joseph", "Thomas", "Christopher", "Daniel",
    "Paul", "Mark", "Donald", "George", "Kenneth", "Steven", "Edward",
    "Brian", "Ronald", "Anthony", "Kevin", "Jason", "Matthew", "Gary",
    "Timothy", "Jose", "Larry", "Jeffrey", "Frank", "Scott", "Eric")
_female_first_name = ("Mary", "Patricia", "Linda", "Barbara", "Elizabeth",
    "Jennifer", "Maria", "Susan", "Margaret", "Dorothy", "Lisa", "Nancy",
    "Karen", "Betty", "Helen", "Sandra", "Donna", "Carol", "Ruth", "Sharon",
    "Michelle", "Laura", "Sarah", "Kimberly", "Deborah", "Jessica",
    "Shirley", "Cynthia", "Angela", "Melissa", "Brenda", "Amy", "Anna")
_last_name = ("Smith", "Johnson", "Williams", "Brown", "Jones", "Miller",
    "Davis", "Garcia", "Rodriguez", "Wilson", "Martinez", "Anderson",
    "Taylor", "Thomas", "Hernandez", "Moore", "Martin", "Jackson",
    "Thompson", "White", "Lopez", "Lee", "Gonzalez", "Harris", "Clark",
    "Lewis", "Robinson", "Walker", "Perez", "Hall", "Young", "Allen")
_lorem = tuple("""lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipisicing elit
        sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua
        Ut enim ad minim veniam quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris
        nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat Duis aute irure dolor in
        reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla
        pariatur Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident sunt in
        culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum""".split())


def _random_item(items):
    return items[random.randrange(len(items))]


def _random_data(key):
    key = key.lstrip('@')
    if not key in data:
        return key
    return data[key]()


def _lorem_ipsum():
    length = random.randrange(2, len(_lorem) / 2)
    result = ''
    for i in xrange(length):
        result += ' ' + _lorem[random.randrange(len(_lorem))]
    return result.strip()


def _random_date():
    return datetime.today() - timedelta(days=random.randrange(6571, 27375))

data = {
    'NUMBER': lambda: _random_item("0123456789"),
    'LETTER_UPPER': lambda: _random_item(string.uppercase),
    'LETTER_LOWER': lambda: _random_item(string.lowercase),
    'MALE_FIRST_NAME': lambda: _random_item(_male_first_name),
    'FEMALE_FIRST_NAME': lambda: _random_item(_female_first_name),
    'LAST_NAME': lambda: _random_item(_last_name),
    'EMAIL': lambda: (_random_data('@LETTER_LOWER')
                      + '.'
                      + _random_data('@LAST_NAME').lower()
                      + '@'
                      + _random_data('@LAST_NAME').lower()
                      + '.com'),
    'LOREM': lambda: _random_item(_lorem),
    'LOREM_IPSUM': _lorem_ipsum,
    'DATE_YYYY': lambda: str(_random_date().year),
    'DATE_MM': lambda: str(_random_date().month).zfill(2),
    'DATE_DD': lambda: str(_random_date().day).zfill(2),
    'TIME_HH': lambda: str(_random_date().hour).zfill(2),
    'TIME_MM': lambda: str(_random_date().minute).zfill(2),
    'TIME_SS': lambda: str(_random_date().second).zfill(2)
}


def generate_json_object(template, name=None):
    length = 0
    if name:
        matches = re.search(r"\w+\|(\d+)-(\d+)", name)
        if matches:
            groups = matches.groups()
            length_min = int(groups[0])
            length_max = int(groups[1])
            length = random.randint(length_min, length_max)

    t_type = type(template)
    if t_type is dict:
        generated = {}
        for key, value in template.iteritems():
            stripped_key = re.sub(r"\|(\d+-\d+|\+\d+)", '', key)
            generated[stripped_key] = generate_json_object(value, key)

            # handle increments
            inc_matches = re.search(r"\w+\|\+(\d+)", key)
            if inc_matches and type(template[key]) is int:
                increment = int(inc_matches.groups()[0])
                template[key] += increment
    elif t_type is list:
        generated = []
        for i in xrange(length):
            generated.append(generate_json_object(template[0]))
    elif t_type is int:
        generated = length if matches else template
    elif t_type is bool:
        # apparently getrandbits(1) is faster...
        generated = random.choice([True, False]) if matches else template
    # is this always just going to be unicode here?
    elif t_type is str or t_type is unicode:
        if template:
            generated = ''
            length = length if length else 1
            for i in range(length):
                generated += template
            matches = re.findall(r"(@[A-Z_0-9\(\),]+)", generated)
            if matches:
                for key in matches:
                    rd = _random_data(key)
                    generated = generated.replace(key, rd, 1)
        else:
            generated = (''.join(random.choice(string.letters)
                         for i in xrange(length)))
    else:
        generated = template
    return generated


def generate_json(template, name=None):
    return json.dumps(generate_json_object(json_data), sort_keys=False)


if __name__ == '__main__':
    arg = sys.argv[1:][0]
    with open(arg) as f:
        json_data = json.load(f)
    print(generate_json(json_data))