What is JSON?
- Stands for Javascript Object Notation
- Similar in use to CSV/XML
- Incredibly Popular and gaining popularity
- Parsing JSON is fast thanks to tools like the V8 Engine
JSON Examples
{
"someKey": "someValue",
"maybe": "sure?",
"numbers?": 3.14,
"booleanToo?": false,
"someArray": [
"one", "two", "three"
],
"objected": {
"myKey": "myValue"
}
}
JSON Warnings!
- no comments allowed
- last key/value pair must not have a ,
- keys must be in strings
- strings must utilize " (double quotes)
More JSON Examples
{
"name": "magda",
"breed": "tabby",
"age": 12,
"colour": "grey and white",
"has_microchip": true
}
{
"favouriteNumber": 42,
"firstPrime": 2,
"arrayOfPrimes": [
2,
5,
7,
17,
11,
13
]
}
XML Example
<tagname attribute='value'>
<resource attribute='value' />
<another_resource new_attribute='valuetwo' />
</tagname>
The JSON
Javascript Object
- Contains two helpful methods:
stringify(javascriptObject)
: converts a Javascript Object to a JSON string
parse(jsonString)
: converts a JSON string into a Javascript Object
- Fallback: If you're supporting older browsers, you'll need a polyfill such as
json2.js