Display JSON data to HTML page using JavaScript

Question

First time being exposed to JSON so please explain like I'm 5 without the jargon. I have been given a JSON file like this and need to display these items in a list in HTML. A lot of examples have the JSON object assigned to a variable- this isn't assigned to a variable so I'm unsure how to reference it. How can I access and display everything in product list. In my html I have linked to a script.js file and also this json file.

HTML

  <h1>My Cart</h1>
    <div id="cart">
        <h2>Cart Items</h2>
        <ul id="cartItemsList">
        </ul>
    </div>

JSON

    "basket": {
        "productList": [{
            "product": {
                "id": "111",
                "name": "Dog",
                "shortDescription": "<p>Mans best friend</p>",
                },
                "category": "Canine",
                "availability": "In Stock",
                "variationType": {
                    "name": "Breed",
                    "value": "Collie"
                }
            },
            "quantity": 1,
            "price": "$53.00"
        }, {
            "product": {
                "id": "112",
                "name": "Dog",
                "shortDescription": "<p>Not so best friend</p>",
                "category": "feline",
                "availability": "Low In Stock",
                "variationType": {
                    "name": "breed",
                    "value": "Maine Coon"
                }
            },
            "quantity": 1,
            "price": "$49.00"
        }, {
            "product": {
                "id": "113",
                "name": "Rabbit",
                "shortDescription": "Likes carrots",
                "category": "cuniculus",
                "availability": "In Stock"
            },
            "quantity": 1,
            "price": "$66.00"
        }]
    }

JavaScript

    var products = document.getElementById("cartItemsList");
    cartItemsList.innerHTML = "<li>" + product + "</li>";

Answer 1

If you are loading this from an external file, you will need Ajax or a similar type of call. To use Ajax, you'll have to add a library called jQuery to your project's HTML file. Then you can call your JSON without referencing it as a javascript variable as you see in the following working code snippet.

/* I put your JSON into an external file, loaded from github */
var url = "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mspanish/playground/master/jessica.json";

/* this tells the page to wait until jQuery has loaded, so you can use the Ajax call */

$(document).ready(function(){
  $.ajax({
    url: url,
    dataType: 'json',
      error: function(){
        console.log('JSON FAILED for data');
      },
    success:function(results){
  /* the results is your json, you can reference the elements directly by using it here, without creating any additional variables */
  
      var cartItemsList = document.getElementById("cartItemsList");

      results.basket.productList.forEach(function(element) {
      cartItemsList.insertAdjacentHTML( 'beforeend',"<li>" +              element.product.name + " : " + element.price+ " </li>");
      }); // end of forEach
    }  // end of success fn
   }) // end of Ajax call
 }) // end of $(document).ready() function

<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/2.1.1/jquery.min.js"></script>

<h1>My Cart</h1>
<div id="cart">
    <h2>Cart Items</h2>
    <ul id="cartItemsList">
    </ul>
</div>