JSON Blog

JSON stands for JavaScript Object Notation

JSON is a text and file format used for storing and transfering data. It is widely used and supported across multiple programming platforms. The syntax of a JSON string is very similar to a javascript object.

Below is an example of converting a JavaScript object to a JSON string.

            
        const cats = [
            {id: 1, name: "Felix", birthdate:"2022-02-22", vaccinated: true, owner:"Bob Smith"},
            {id: 2, name: "Garfield", birthdate:"2019-10-23", vaccinated: false, owner:"Bob Smith"},
            {id: 3, name: "Milo", birthdate:"2020-04-11", vaccinated: true, owner:"Patty Jones"}
        ];
        const JsonCats = JSON.stringify(cats);
        console.log(JsonCats);


        //The JsonCats variable will look like this:
            [{"id":1,"name":"Felix","birthdate":"2022-02-22","vaccinated":true,"owner":"Bob Smith"},
            {"id":2,"name":"Garfield","birthdate":"2019-10-23","vaccinated":false,"owner":"Bob Smith"},
            {"id":3,"name":"Milo","birthdate":"2020-04-11","vaccinated":true,"owner":"Patty Jones"}]

Additionally, Here is an example of converting from a JSON string to a JavaScript object

        
        const JsonCats = [{"id":1,"name":"Felix","birthdate":"2022-02-22","vaccinated":true,"owner":"Bob Smith"},
            {"id":2,"name":"Garfield","birthdate":"2019-10-23","vaccinated":false,"owner":"Bob Smith"},
            {"id":3,"name":"Milo","birthdate":"2020-04-11","vaccinated":true,"owner":"Patty Jones"}]
    
        const regularCats = JSON.parse(JsonCats);
        console.log(regularCats);

        
        //The regularCats variable will look like this:
        {id: 1, name: "Felix", birthdate:"2022-02-22", vaccinated: true, owner:"Bob Smith"},
        {id: 2, name: "Garfield", birthdate:"2019-10-23", vaccinated: false, owner:"Bob Smith"},
        {id: 3, name: "Milo", birthdate:"2020-04-11", vaccinated: true, owner:"Patty Jones"}

You may notice that JSON and JavaScript objects look very similar. However, there are some key differences between the 2 formats. For example, key names are put into double quotations in JSON format, and a property can have an array of values instead of one single value.

Data in JSON string file format has a lot of versatility as it can be pretty easily transformed into another data format. JSON format is also primarily used for transmitting data between a server and a web application, which is why the parse and stringify commands in javascript are so useful.