Website design today has established a very strong link with programming languages such as JavaScript so it is unlikely that you will see a site with a professional design and a good UI that does not have a JavaScript programmer behind it.
One of the sub-branches of the JavaScript programming language that is used to represent simple data structures and arrays is json.
In this part of the JavaScript training article series, I am going to fully discuss json and talk about JSON rules, data, files, objects, and arrays, and the reasons for using json, its limitations, and tools. I will also serve you.
Table of Contents
What is JSON?
JSON, which stands for JavaScript Object Notation, means the notation of objects in JavaScript. JSON is a standard and lightweight format for storing and transmitting data, just like XML. Was it hard don’t worry at all!
Let’s say you want to buy a bike, but the bike dealer doesn’t sell it to you! It provides you with important features and characteristics of your bike so that you can completely build it with the tools you have.
These attributes can be sent to you as attribute-key pairs: body material, size, color, ribs, and a few more.
This is exactly true in web pages as well. Since reloading the entire page is a heavy and time-consuming operation; the ability to make web requests in the background while the page is being displayed to the user is known to be an efficient approach to loading data for display to the user. Web pages are meant to send data to the user without fully loading it. The reason is that this will directly affect the user experience of the audience.
Note: This is known as asynchronous loading in the world of web design and programming.
The reason why JSON is superior to XML
As mentioned, Json is one of the sub-branches of the JavaScript programming language, and for this reason, those who are proficient in JS do not need to learn many things when using Json.
Another reason Json is popular is that it is more readable than XML. At a glance at the XML file, you’ll find a plethora of tags and annotations, while Json is cleaner and easier for beginners to understand, and Json offers more flexibility than XML by providing primitive data types.
On the other hand, XML creates many ambiguities when parsed in JavaScript. Converting XML to JavaScript objects requires spending hundreds or even thousands of lines of code, and on the other hand, you have to customize the codes based on the objects that are parsed. Converting a JSON to a JavaScript object requires only one line of code and does not require any information about the object to be parsed.
Coding rules in JSON
- The data is placed in the form of name/value
- Data is separated by commas
- The [] symbol is used to store arrays.
- The {} symbol is used to hold objects.
Data in JSON
Data in JSON is written in pairs (name/value), just like JavaScript object properties.
A name/value pair consists of a name field (within double quotes) followed by a colon followed by the value.
Objects in JSON
JSON objects are written in parentheses, just like JavaScript objects can contain multiple (name/value) pairs.
Arrays in JSON
JSON arrays are written in brackets. Just like a JavaScript file, an array can contain objects.
JSON files
JSON data is stored in files that end with the .json extension. This makes JSON files completely human-readable. These files have stored information in the form of plain text, which is simply opened and you can modify it. This issue is exactly the main reason for Json’s extensive cooperation with many applications. Because any language you speak can easily read this information and do some processing on it, and it can easily be sent across the Internet.
Jason’s limitations
Although the JSON data format has a brief and very simple format, there are some weaknesses in this data format, which I will point out the most important ones below.
Hello Jason
In JSON you have a lot of flexibility and can display the data in any way you want. But on the other hand, this means that you can easily generate false data.
No data type
This means that developers are forced to use strings to display dates.
No further explanation (comment)
This issue makes it impossible to annotate the code and practically the code has little readability for other programmers. If you intend to have such annotations for your files, you have to create a new file.
A lot of explanation
Although the JSON data format is much shorter than XML, it cannot be said that it is the most concise way to display data. You can use shorter data formats for high-volume services or some special purposes.
JSON Tools
If you are also looking for suitable tools to edit and run Json format data, you should know that there are currently a large number of online tools that can help you in this field.
Note that you don’t need to program to work with these tools, but it is enough to copy and paste a piece of your JSON data format data into these online tools so that you can easily understand their structure. And analyze these data directly and in the shortest possible time. And the best of these tools:
JSON formatted: JSONLint can format and validate your arbitrary code with JSON data format.
JSON file converter: If you need to convert Json format files to another format and share them with other people, I recommend you to use the Convertcsv website. Using this site, you can easily convert JSON files to CSV or XML.
Beautifier of Json files: If you are one of the people who are looking for a more regular and beautiful execution of codes with Json data format, Prettydiff can be a great help for you.
Should I use JSON?
If you are designing software that has to communicate with web browsers or mobile applications, you should use the JSON data format. Using data formats such as XML can be a big mistake in the field of mobile or website design because they are not attractive at all.
The JSON format is a versatile format that is used to send data between servers, websites, and mobile applications.
The simple design and flexibility of this data format make it very easy to read and understand, and in many cases, it is easy to modify in the programming language of your choice. Not having a strict design has allowed the Json data format to be very flexible, but this flexibility sometimes means that you can’t be sure that you’re reading or writing a Json file correctly.
Assuming that you are using a NoSQL database, you are probably involved in the database. In relational databases, the JSON data format is accepted as a data type, making it easier to use JSON. Relational databases are a good option for structured data that is set to a specific schema. While today’s databases are very flexible in accepting and supporting data in the Json format, you still expect to be able to search with better performance and speed within Json features.