What exactly is JSON?

Question

I'm new to the web application domain. I have been watching some hot and eye-catching discussions regarding JSON everywhere.

Can someone briefly explain what JSON is? Do you have links to websites or forums that can help enlighten me about JSON?

Answer 1

JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) is a data storage language, a bit like XML, but uses a more familiar "dictionary" style syntax and semantics. For example, I can store an address book in JSON:

[{"Name": "Jane", "Address": "28 Seventh St", "Age": 27},
 {"Name": "Steve", "Address": "14 Ninth St", "Age": 25}
]

Notice that it looks a lot like a Python or JavaScript dictionary and list syntax. That's basically all it is: a serialisation of these six basic data types:

• Object (or a "dictionary")
• Array (or a "list")
• String
• Number (integer and float)
• Boolean (true and false)
• null

More information at json.org.

Note that although it has "JavaScript" in the name, it is really easy to read and write JSON data from any language, though the data structure is best represented in dynamic languages like JavaScript and Python. The website has a huge list of implementations in various languages.

Answer 2

From json.org:

JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) is a lightweight data-interchange format. It is easy for humans to read and write. It is easy for machines to parse and generate. It is based on a subset of the JavaScript Programming Language, Standard ECMA-262 3rd Edition - December 1999. JSON is a text format that is completely language independent but uses conventions that are familiar to programmers of the C-family of languages, including C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, Perl, Python, and many others. These properties make JSON an ideal data-interchange language.