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