JSON File Format Tips

JSON is an acronym that stands for JavaScript Object Notation, a human-readable document format for storing and exchanging data.

Generally, it is text that is easy for humans to read and write, and easy for machines to parse (read) and generate (write).

Douglas Crockford, the developer of JSON and various JavaScript tools, says it is pronounced "Jason", but it is popularly known as "Jay'-sawn"

Variations include GeoJSON for simple geographic features.

Alternative formats include CSV (Comma Separated Values, for data) and YAML (usually for configuration files).

Contact Us if you cannot find your answer here on our Wiki or if you notice any information that is outdated.

 

Tips

• file extension is .json (but not .js)
• in JSON files, whitespace is allowed between elements punctuation, for example
• comments are generally not a part of JSON files, but some variations do allow comments
• JSON can be stored directly into some relational databases

External Training

Links to external sites:

Introducing JSON — The JSON Data Interchange Standard.

JSON - Introduction — on W3Schools

JSON — on Wikipedia

Hand-Curated Links

Links to member-recommended external sites:

Douglas Crockford — on Wikipedia

GeoJSON — simple geographic features

jq — lightweight and flexible command-line JSON processor

pandoc — convert between (numerous markup and word processing) file formats

YAML — "a human-readable data serialization language"

For Additional Help

Links to related PPM Wiki pages:

Visual Studio Code Tips

Use the PPM Slack channel #computing

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Contact Us if you cannot find your answer here on our Wiki or if you notice any information that is outdated.