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JSON Overivew

This document provides an overview of JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) including: - JSON is a lightweight data-interchange format that is easy for humans to read and write and for machines to parse and generate. - JSON is built on two structures: a collection of name/value pairs and an ordered list of values. These are universal data structures. - JSON can represent numbers, strings, ordered sequences of values, and collections of name/value pairs. - JSON is primarily used to transmit data between a server and web application, serving as an alternative to XML. It has simpler syntax than XML.

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Saravanan Sureya
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52 views17 pages

JSON Overivew

This document provides an overview of JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) including: - JSON is a lightweight data-interchange format that is easy for humans to read and write and for machines to parse and generate. - JSON is built on two structures: a collection of name/value pairs and an ordered list of values. These are universal data structures. - JSON can represent numbers, strings, ordered sequences of values, and collections of name/value pairs. - JSON is primarily used to transmit data between a server and web application, serving as an alternative to XML. It has simpler syntax than XML.

Uploaded by

Saravanan Sureya
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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JSON

OVERVIEW AND PARSING


What is JSON

 JavaScript Object Notation

 Used to format data


 Commonly used in Web as a vehicle to describe data
being sent between systems
JSON example
 “JSON” stands for “JavaScript Object Notation”
 Despite the name, JSON is a (mostly) language-independent way of
specifying objects as name-value pairs
 Example (http://secretgeek.net/json_3mins.asp):
 {"skillz": {
"web":[
{ "name": "html",
"years": 5
},
{ "name": "css",
"years": 3
}]
"database":[
{ "name": "sql",
"years": 7
}]
}}
JSON syntax
 An object is an unordered set of name/value pairs
 The pairs are enclosed within braces, { }
 There is a colon between the name and the value
 Pairs are separated by commas
 Example: { "name": "html", "years": 5 }
 An array is an ordered collection of values
 The values are enclosed within brackets, [ ]
 Values are separated by commas
 Example: [ "html", ”xml", "css" ]
JSON syntax
 A value can be: A string, a number, true, false, null, an
object, or an array
 Values can be nested
 Strings are enclosed in double quotes, and can contain the
usual assortment of escaped characters
 Numbers have the usual C/C++/Java syntax, including
exponential (E) notation
 All numbers are decimal--no octal or hexadecimal
 Whitespace can be used between any pair of tokens
How to turn JSON into JavaScript
object –eval(*)
 The JavaScript eval(string) method compiles and executes
the given string
 The string can be an expression, a statement, or a sequence of
statements
 Expressions can include variables and object properties
 eval returns the value of the last expression evaluated
 When applied to JSON, eval returns the described object
JSON and—methods?
 In addition to instance variables, objects typically have
methods
 There is nothing in the JSON specification about methods
 However, a method can be represented as a string, and (when
received by the client) evaluated with eval
 Obviously, this breaks language-independence
 Also, JavaScript is rarely used on the server side
Comparison of JSON and XML
 Similarities:
 Both are human readable
 Both have very simple syntax
 Both are hierarchical
 Both are language independent
 Both can be used by Ajax
 Both supported in APIs of many programming languages
 Differences:
 Syntax is different
 JSON is less verbose
 JSON can be parsed by JavaScript’s eval method
 JSON includes arrays
 Names in JSON must not be JavaScript reserved words
 XML can be validated
JSON in AJAX

 JSON can be used in AJAX as follows:


 Include it in HTML directly
 <html>... <script> var data = JSONdata; </script>...
</html>
 JSON is used with XMLHttpRequest and can be
converted into a JavaScript structure
 responseData = eval('(' + responseText + ')');

We have not yet spoken about AJAX --- revisit this again
after you have learned about AJAX
Why is JSON better suited for AJAX?

 JSON is widely used in AJAX. The X in AJAX stands for XML.


 E.g.
 {
 "fullname": "Swati Kumar",
 "org": "Columbia",
 }

 <?xml version='1.0‘ encoding='UTF-8'?>


 <element>
 <fullname>Swati Kumar</fullname>
 <org>Columbia</org>
 </element>
 JSON response at client side is:
 var name = eval('(' + req.responseText +
')').fullname.value;
 To access a composite element
 eval('(' + req.responseText + ')').xyz.abc.value;
 Thus, any level deep elements can be easily
accessed.
XML and JavaScript

 XML response at client side is:


 var root = req.responseXML;
 var name =
root.getElementsByTagName(‘fullname’);
 To access a composite element
 root.getElementsByTagName(‘xyz’)[0].firstChild
 To access deeper levels we need more overhead.
 Reduced extensibility in XML
YAML – another option?
 YAML can be taken as an acronym for either
 Yet Another Markup Language
 YAML Ain’t Markup Language
 Like JSON, the purpose of YAML is to represent typical data
types in human-readable notation
 YAML is (almost) a superset of JSON, with many more
capabilities (lists, casting, etc.)
 Except:YAML doesn’t handle escaped Unicode characters
 Consequently, JSON can be parsed by YAML parsers
 When JSON isn’t enough, consider YAML
JSON and Java

HOW TO PARSE JSON IN JAVA


Mapping between JSON and Java entities
JSON Java

string java.lang.String
number java.lang.Number
true|false java.lang.Boolean
null null
array java.util.List
object java.util.Map

JSON.simple maps entities from the left side to the right side while
decoding or parsing, and maps entities from the right to the left while
encoding.
On decoding, the default concrete class
of java.util.List isorg.json.simple.JSONArray and the default concrete
class of java.util.Map isorg.json.simple.JSONObject.
JSON reading in Java example
 http://www.tutorialspoint.com/json/json_java_example.ht
m
There is an interface called
JSONParser in javax.json.stream you
can implement
 javax.json.stream
 Interface JsonParser

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