JSON Basics
(Page 1 of 5 )
These are the golden days of JavaScript, which was warily used in the not too distant past because of the browser wars (still being waged). With enhancements to JavaScript in recent years and the advent of AJAX, interest in Javascript has taken a new turn, a turn for the better. Early on with AJAX it was recognized that there was a contender for XML for handling data which was stable, faster, and portable. This was the beginning of JSON.
Although RFC 4627 marks a JSON milestone, it appears that it had already been discussed among the JavaScript cognoscenti. JSON is equally, or even more suited, for data exchange than XML, which was originally considered to be the ideal wire friendly format.
What is JSON?
So what is JSON? It's an acronym you might have started seeing in greater frequency on the Internet. JSON stands for Javascript Object Notation. Well, it is a special object notational construct and is a subset of JavaScript. It can be used wherever JavaScript can be used and you do not need to download anything. There is no need to worry about the version of JavaScript.
You can read more about JSON in RFC 4627. JSON was designed to be minimal (small), textual, and portable. The MIME Media Type is now registered as application/json. JSON can handle exchanging data in applications written in different programming languages such as C, C#, ColdFusion, Perl, Python, Ruby, and so forth.
Next: JSON basics >>
More JavaScript Articles
More By Jayaram Krishnaswamy
