load vs loads

[oleg-alexandrov]

I got bitten on a few occasions about the fine distinction between 'load' and 'loads', especially that in English the "s" has its own grammatical use and one easily glosses over it.

I think the loader functions should be called something like "load_as_dict" and "load_as_str" for clarity. The current "load" and "loads" could still be maintained as aliases.

[jessemapel]

ALE uses the same convention as the Python JSON package where load/dump work with objects and loads/dumps work with strings.

I have also confused myself with this, but it's more in line with the base Python package.

@Kelvinrr I'm curious if you have thoughts on this as someone more familiar with Python packages.

[oleg-alexandrov]

That a certain Python JSON package uses this convention is a little bit of cold comfort. :)

[jessemapel]

It is the built-in Python JSON package, so it's a bit of a convention.

I'm hesitant to change the name of the primary function for this package. We could add "alias" functions. I think this will also be largely alleviated by #437

[oleg-alexandrov]

Sure. I think we should have a user-facing perspective and not an existing-package-facing perspective, but hey, whichever works. If aliases are added and documented in the readme, maybe that will make everybody happy. I can put a pull request if this makes sense.

[antonhibl]

addressed largely by #437