Java Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 19. Processing JSON Data
Introduction
JSON, or JavaScript Object Notation, is:
▪ A simple, lightweight data interchange format.
▪ A simpler, lighter alternative to XML (see
Chapter 20
)
.
▪ Easy to generate with
printlns
or with one of several APIs.
▪ Recognized directly by the JavaScript parser in all web browsers.
▪ Supported with add-on frameworks for all common languages (Java, C/C++, Perl, Ruby,
Python, Lua, Erlang, Haskell, to name a few); a ridiculously long list of supported lan-
guages (including two dozen parsers for Java alone) is right on the
homepage
.
A simple JSON message might look like this:
softwareinfo.json
{
"name"
"name"
:
"robinparse"
,
"version"
"version"
:
"1.2.3"
,
"description"
"description"
:
"Another Parser for JSON"
,
"className"
"className"
:
"RobinParse"
,
"contributors"
"contributors"
: [
"Robin Smythe"
,
"Jon Jenz"
,
"Jan Ardann"
]
}
As you can see, the syntax is simple, nestable, and amenable to human inspection.
The JSON home page
provides a concise summary of JSON syntax. There are two kinds of
structure: JSON Objects (maps) and JSON Arrays (lists). JSON Objects are sets of name and
