How to use JSON
JSON stands for JavaScript Object Notation
JSON is a text format for storing and transporting data
JSON is "self-describing" and easy to understand
This is an example of an object having 3 attributes defined:
- name - String (Text)
- age - Number
- isAdult - Boolean (True/False)
- chores - List<String> (A list of String)
Every object is defined by
{}
and will contains every attribute in the following format:{
"attributeName": value,
"attributeName": value,
"attributeName": value
}
A String will be quoted with
"
on each side.A Number can just be written directly.
A Boolean must be either
true
or false
(in lower case).A List must start and end with
[
and ]
respectively, with elements spaced with a ,
.{
"name": "John",
"age": 30,
"isAdult": true,
"chores": ["cleaning", "trash"]
}
JSON don't require any spacing format, which means you can put spaces or tabs everywhere, it will still works:
With a nice indent
Compact
It's what we mostly use as it's the most human readable.
{
"name": "John",
"age": 30,
"isAdult": true,
"chores": [
"cleaning",
"trash"
]
}
To reduce file size.
{"name": "John","age": 30,"isAdult": true,"chores": ["cleaning", "trash"]}
Also, an object can contain another one:
{
"name": "John",
"age": 30,
"isAdult": true,
"wear": {
"name": "pants",
"color": "red",
"shorts": false
}
}
You can edit JSON files with any basic text editor, but it's going to be far easier to avoid mistakes when using an editor.
There's an example of one online: https://jsoneditoronline.org/