> That's exaxtly why jq is so nice. Nice alternatives just don't exist
Write a simple Python script, parse JSON into native objects, manipulate those objects as desired with standard Python code, then serialize back into JSON if necessary. Voila, you have a readable, maintainable, straightforward solution, and the only dependency (the Python interpreter) is already preinstalled on almost every modern system.
Sure, you may need a few more lines of code than what would be possible with a tailor-made DSL like jq, but this isn't code golf. Good code targets humans, not "least possible number of bytes, arranged in the cleverest possible way".
Write a simple Python script, parse JSON into native objects, manipulate those objects as desired with standard Python code, then serialize back into JSON if necessary. Voila, you have a readable, maintainable, straightforward solution, and the only dependency (the Python interpreter) is already preinstalled on almost every modern system.
Sure, you may need a few more lines of code than what would be possible with a tailor-made DSL like jq, but this isn't code golf. Good code targets humans, not "least possible number of bytes, arranged in the cleverest possible way".