JSON is built on two structures:
- A collection of name/value pairs. In various languages, this is realized as an object, record, struct, dictionary, hash table, keyed list, or associative array.
- An ordered list of values. In most languages, this is realized as an array, vector, list, or sequence.
In JSON, they take on these forms:
An object is an unordered set of name/value pairs. An object begins with { (left brace) and ends with } (right brace). Each name is followed by : (colon) and the name/value pairs are separated by , (comma).
An array is an ordered collection of values. An array begins with [ (left bracket) and ends with ] (right bracket). Values are separated by , (comma).
A value can be a string in double quotes, or a number, or true or false or null, or an object or an array. These structures can be nested.
A string is a sequence of zero or more Unicode characters, wrapped in double quotes, using backslash escapes. A character is represented as a single character string. A string is very much like a C or Java string.
A number is very much like a C or Java number, except that the octal and hexadecimal formats are not used.
Whitespace can be inserted between any pair of tokens. Excepting a few encoding details, that completely describes the language.
JSON in JavaScript
JavaScript is a general purpose programming language that was introduced as the page scripting language for Netscape Navigator. It is still widely believed to be a subset of Java, but it is not. It is a Scheme-like language with C-like syntax and soft objects. JavaScript was standardized in the ECMAScript Language Specification, Third Edition.
JSON is a subset of the object literal notation of JavaScript. Since JSON is a subset of JavaScript, it can be used in the language with no muss or fuss.
var myJSONObject = {"bindings": [
{"ircEvent": "PRIVMSG", "method": "newURI", "regex": "^http://.*"},
{"ircEvent": "PRIVMSG", "method": "deleteURI", "regex": "^delete.*"},
{"ircEvent": "PRIVMSG", "method": "randomURI", "regex": "^random.*"}
]
};In this example, an object is created containing a single member "bindings", which contains an array containing three objects, each containing "ircEvent", "method", and "regex" members.Members can be retrieved using dot or subscript operators.
myJSONObject.bindings[0].method // "newURI"To convert a JSON text into an object, you can use the eval() function. eval() invokes the JavaScript compiler. Since JSON is a proper subset of JavaScript, the compiler will correctly parse the text and produce an object structure. The text must be wrapped in parens to avoid tripping on an ambiguity in JavaScript’s syntax.
var myObject = eval('(' + myJSONtext + ')');The eval function is very fast. However, it can compile and execute any JavaScript program, so there can be security issues. The use of eval is indicated when the source is trusted and competent. It is much safer to use a JSON parser. In web applications over XMLHttpRequest, communication is permitted only to the same origin that provide that page, so it is trusted. But it might not be competent. If the server is not rigorous in its JSON encoding, or if it does not scrupulously validate all of its inputs, then it could deliver invalid JSON text that could be carrying dangerous script. The eval function would execute the script, unleashing its malice.To defend against this, a JSON parser should be used. A JSON parser will recognize only JSON text, rejecting all scripts. In browsers that provide native JSON support, JSON parsers are also much faster than
eval. It is expected that native JSON support will be included in the next ECMAScript standard.var myObject = JSON.parse(myJSONtext, reviver);The optional
reviver parameter is a function that will be called for every key and value at every level of the final result. Each value will be replaced by the result of the reviver function. This can be used to reform generic objects into instances of pseudoclasses, or to transform date strings into Date objects.myData = JSON.parse(text, function (key, value) {
var type;
if (value && typeof value === 'object') {
type = value.type;
if (typeof type === 'string' && typeof window[type] === 'function') {
return new (window[type])(value);
}
}
return value;
});A JSON stringifier goes in the opposite direction, converting JavaScript data structures into JSON text. JSON does not support cyclic data structures, so be careful to not give cyclical structures to the JSON stringifier.var myJSONText = JSON.stringify(myObject, replacer);If the
stringify method sees an object that contains a toJSON method, it calls that method, and stringifies the value returned. This allows an object to determine its own JSON representation.The
stringifier method can take an optional array of strings. These strings are used to select the properties that will be included in the JSON text.The
stringifier method can take an optional replacer function. It will be called after the toJSON method (if there is one) on each of the values in the structure. It will be passed each key and value as parameters, and this will be bound to object holding the key. The value returned will be stringified.Values that do not have a representation in JSON (such as functions and
undefined) are excluded.Nonfinite numbers are replaced with
null. To substitute other values, you could use a replacer function like this:function replacer(key, value) {
if (typeof value === 'number' && !isFinite(value)) {
return String(value);
}
return value;
}Giving a corresponding reviver to JSON.parse can undo that.source : http://www.json.org/
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