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What Is JSON? How does it work?

JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) is an open standard format that is lightweight and text-based, and it was created specifically for human-readable data transfer. It's a data format that doesn't care about the language. It works with practically any language, framework, or library.

Douglas Crockford was the first to define JSON in the early 2000s. The ECMA-404 standard for JSON was published in 2013, and RCF 8259 was issued in 2017.

JSON is a web data exchange format that is available to everybody. Data structures such as objects and arrays are supported. As a result, writing and reading data from JSON is simple.

Data is stored in JSON as key-value pairs, with curly braces holding objects and a colon after each name. To separate key-value pairs, use a comma. Arrays are held in square brackets, with each value separated by a comma.

  • JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) is an acronym for JavaScript Object Notation.
  • JSON is a data-exchange format that is open to anyone.
  • JSON is simple and self-explanatory.
  • JavaScript gave birth to JSON.
  • JSON is a simple format to read and write.
  • JSON is language agnostic.
  • Data structures such as arrays and objects are supported by JSON.

The following characteristics of JSON: 

  • Simplicity Openness
  • Self-Describing
  • Internationalization
  • Extensibility
  • Interoperability

What is the purpose of using JSON?

Given that JSON is a straightforward and lightweight language data interchange format when compared to the other options available, it can be used for API integration purposes. The following are some of the benefits of JSON:

Less Verbose: In contrast to XML, JSON uses a concise language to increase the readability of its data for its users. When dealing with a complex system, JSON has the tendency to provide significant improvements.

Faster: The JSON parsing process is significantly faster than the XML parsing process because the DOM manipulation library in XML requires additional memory to handle large XML files, whereas JSON does not. However, because JSON requires less data, the cost of processing it is lower and the parsing time is faster, which is advantageous.

Readability: The JSON structure is basic and easily readable. You can map the domain objects with relative ease, regardless of the programming language that you are using.

The JSON data format follows a map data structure, whereas the XML structure follows a tree data structure. The key-value pairs restrict the scope of the task while facilitating the development of a predictive and easily understandable model.

JSON Objects :

The term "object" in JSON refers to a dictionary, which is denoted by curly brackets, as in, "object". These objects are written in key/value pairs, where the key must be a string and the values must be a valid JSON data type, such as a string, number, object, Boolean, or null, as specified in the JSON specification. The key and values are separated by a colon, and each key/value pair is separated by a comma.