JSON Tutorial

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JSON Example
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{

"employees": [

{ "firstName":"John" , "lastName":"Doe" },

{ "firstName":"Anna" , "lastName":"Smith" }, Like 104k

{ "firstName":"Peter" , "lastName":"Jones" }

]

}

The employees object is an array of 3 employee records (objects).

What is JSON?
JSON stands for JavaScript Object Notation
JSON is lightweight text-data interchange format
JSON is language independent *
JSON is "self-describing" and easy to understand

* JSON uses JavaScript syntax for describing data objects, but JSON is still language and platform independent. JSON
parsers and JSON libraries exists for many different programming languages.

JSON - Evaluates to JavaScript Objects

The JSON text format is syntactically identical to the code for creating JavaScript objects.

Because of this similarity, instead of using a parser, a JavaScript program can use the built-in eval() function and execute
JSON data to produce native JavaScript objects.

http://www.w3schools.com/json/default.asp[3/18/2014 5:06:58 PM]

JSON Tutorial

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JSON Tutorial

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JSON Introduction

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JSON Example
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<!DOCTYPE html> HTML5, CSS, JavaScript,
<html> PHP, jQuery, XML, and

<body> ASP Certifications

<h2>JSON Object Creation in JavaScript</h2>

<p> SHARE THIS PAGE

Name: <span id="jname"></span><br />

Age: <span id="jage"></span><br />

Address: <span id="jstreet"></span><br /> Like 104k

Phone: <span id="jphone"></span><br />

</p>

<script>

var JSONObject= {

"name":"John Johnson",

"street":"Oslo West 555",

"age":33,

"phone":"555 1234567"};

document.getElementById("jname").innerHTML=JSONObject.name;

document.getElementById("jage").innerHTML=JSONObject.age;

document.getElementById("jstreet").innerHTML=JSONObject.street;

document.getElementById("jphone").innerHTML=JSONObject.phone;

</script>

</body>

</html>

Try it yourself

Click on the "Try it yourself" button to see how it works

http://www.w3schools.com/json/json_intro.asp[3/18/2014 5:07:36 PM]

JSON Introduction

Much Like XML

JSON is plain text
JSON is "self-describing" (human readable)
JSON is hierarchical (values within values)
JSON can be parsed by JavaScript
JSON data can be transported using AJAX

Much Unlike XML

No end tag
Shorter
Quicker to read and write
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Can be parsed using built-in JavaScript eval()
Web Statistics
Uses arrays
No reserved words Web Validation

Why JSON?
For AJAX applications, JSON is faster and easier than XML:

Using XML

Fetch an XML document

Use the XML DOM to loop through the document
Extract values and store in variables

Using JSON

Fetch a JSON string

eval() the JSON string

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JSON Introduction

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and privacy policy.
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JSON Syntax

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JSON syntax is a subset of JavaScript syntax
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JSON syntax is a subset of the JavaScript object notation syntax:

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Square brackets hold arrays

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JSON Name/Value Pairs
JSON data is written as name/value pairs. Like 104k

A name/value pair consists of a field name (in double quotes), followed by a colon, followed by a value:

"firstName" : "John"

This is simple to understand, and equals to the JavaScript statement:

firstName = "John"

JSON Values
JSON values can be:

A number (integer or floating point)

A string (in double quotes)
A Boolean (true or false)
An array (in square brackets)
An object (in curly brackets)
null

JSON Objects

http://www.w3schools.com/json/json_syntax.asp[3/18/2014 5:07:48 PM]

JSON Syntax
JSON objects are written inside curly brackets,

Objects can contain multiple name/values pairs:

{ "firstName":"John" , "lastName":"Doe" }

This is also simple to understand, and equals to the JavaScript statements:

firstName = "John";

lastName = "Doe";

JSON Arrays
JSON arrays are written inside square brackets. WEB RESOURCES
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An array can contain multiple objects:
Web Validation

{

"employees": [

{ "firstName":"John" , "lastName":"Doe" },

{ "firstName":"Anna" , "lastName":"Smith" },

{ "firstName":"Peter" , "lastName":"Jones" }

]

}

In the example above, the object "employees" is an array containing three objects. Each object is a record of a person (with
a first name and a last name).

JSON Uses JavaScript Syntax

Because JSON uses JavaScript syntax, no extra software is needed to work with JSON within JavaScript.

With JavaScript you can create an array of objects and assign data to it like this:

Example

var employees =
[

{ "firstName":"John" , "lastName":"Doe" },

{ "firstName":"Anna" , "lastName":"Smith" },

{ "firstName":"Peter" , "lastName": "Jones" }

];

The first entry in the JavaScript object array can be accessed like this:

employees[0].firstName + " " +
employees[0].lastName;

The returned content will be:

John
Doe

The data can be modified like this:

employees[0].firstName = "Gilbert";

Try it yourself

http://www.w3schools.com/json/json_syntax.asp[3/18/2014 5:07:48 PM]

JSON Syntax

In the next chapter you will learn how to convert a JSON text to a JavaScript object.

JSON Files
The file type for JSON files is ".json"
The MIME type for JSON text is "application/json"

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While using this site, you agree to have read and accepted our terms of use, cookie
and privacy policy.
Copyright 1999-2014 by Refsnes Data. All Rights Reserved.

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JSON Howto

HOME HTML CSS JAVASCRIPT SQL PHP JQUERY XML ASP.NET MORE... REFERENCES | EXAMPLES | FORUM | ABOUT

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JSON data to a JavaScript object, and then it uses the data in a web page.

For simplicity, this can be demonstrated by using a string as input (instead of a file).
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Create a JavaScript string containing JSON syntax:

SHARE THIS PAGE

var txt = '{ "employees" : [' +

'{ "firstName":"John" , "lastName":"Doe" },' +

'{ "firstName":"Anna" , "lastName":"Smith" },' +

'{ "firstName":"Peter" , "lastName":"Jones" } ]}'; Like 104k

Since JSON syntax is a subset of JavaScript syntax, the JavaScript function eval() can be used to convert a JSON text into a
JavaScript object.

The eval() function uses the JavaScript compiler which will parse the JSON text and produce a JavaScript object. The text
must be wrapped in parenthesis to avoid a syntax error:

var obj = eval ("(" + txt + ")");

Use the JavaScript object in your page:

Example

<p>

First Name: <span id="fname"></span><br />

Last Name: <span id="lname"></span><br />

</p>

<script>

document.getElementById("fname").innerHTML = obj.employees[1].firstName;

document.getElementById("lname").innerHTML = obj.employees[1].lastName;

</script>

Try it yourself

http://www.w3schools.com/json/json_eval.asp[3/18/2014 5:08:01 PM]

JSON Howto

JSON Parser

The eval() function can compile and execute any JavaScript. This represents a potential security problem.

It is safer to use a JSON parser to convert a JSON text to a JavaScript object. A JSON parser will recognize only JSON text
and will not compile scripts.

In browsers that provide native JSON support, JSON parsers are also faster.

Native JSON support is included in all major browsers and in the latest ECMAScript (JavaScript) standard.

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Firefox 3.5 jQuery Web Validation
Internet Explorer 8 Yahoo UI
Chrome Prototype
Opera 10 Dojo
Safari 4 ECMAScript 1.5

Try it yourself

For older browsers, a JavaScript library is available at https://github.com/douglascrockford/JSON-js

The JSON format was

originally specified by Douglas Crockford

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JSON Howto

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While using this site, you agree to have read and accepted our terms of use, cookie
and privacy policy.
Copyright 1999-2014 by Refsnes Data. All Rights Reserved.

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