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Learn JSON Basics Series
This is part one in an instructional two part series of blog posts about JSON.
- Introduction to JSON ~ Part One
- Handling JSON Objects with JavaScript ~ Part Two
JavaScript Object Notation
JSON is an easy way of parsing information as text, particularly saved as a .json file extension.
Benefits of JSON:
- Human readable and writeable
- Easy for machines to parse and generate
- Use name value pairs
- Can contain objects and arrays
- Based on JavaScript but language agnostic (can be used with many languages)
- Has largely replaced XML
- WordPress API uses JSON
Example of JSON data:
[
{
"id": 1,
"title": "Hello world!".
"content": "Welcome to the world of JSON"
},
{
"id": 2,
"title": "Hello JSON!",
"content": "Welcome to the world of JSON again"
}
]
The brackets ‘[]’ demonstrate that this is an array of data. The curly braces ‘{}’ are objects listed in an array. Each object is separated by a comma. Do not put a comma at the end of the last object. Within the objects are name value pairs with the key on the left and value on the right separated by a comma ‘:’. JSON requires double quotes around strings.
When writing JSON you’ll want to make sure it’s valid. Checkout jsonlint.com for help.
JSON view is all a helpful Chrome Browser Add-on that helps you view readable JSON when you view source code.
JSON Review
- JSON is easy to read and write
- .json extension is used for JSON files, but you can also write JSON in a JavaScript file
- Uses objects, arrays and name value pairs to represent data
- JSON is more strict than JavaScript, so make sure to validate