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JavaScript Object Notation

What is a .json file?

JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) is a lightweight, text-based data interchange format that is easy for humans to read and write, and easy for machines to parse and generate.

Technical Details

Developer
Douglas Crockford
First Released
2001
MIME Type
application/json
Extension
.json

What is JSON?

JSON is a text format for storing and transporting data. It originated from JavaScript but is now language-independent and used across virtually all programming languages. JSON represents data as key-value pairs and ordered lists, making it intuitive to understand. Its simplicity and flexibility have made it the de facto standard for web APIs and configuration files.

Key Characteristics

  • Human-readable text format
  • Lightweight and minimal syntax
  • Language-independent
  • Supports nested data structures
  • Native JavaScript support
  • UTF-8 encoding by default

How to Open .json Files

JSON files can be opened with any text editor, but specialized tools provide syntax highlighting and validation:

  • VS Code (free, cross-platform)
  • Notepad++ (free, Windows)
  • Sublime Text (cross-platform)
  • Any web browser (drag & drop)
  • Online JSON viewers

Common Uses

  • Web API responses and requests
  • Configuration files for applications
  • Data storage in NoSQL databases
  • Package management (package.json)
  • Data exchange between services

Pros and Cons

Pros

  • Easy to read and write
  • Widely supported
  • Compact compared to XML
  • Fast parsing

Cons

  • No comments allowed
  • No date type (uses strings)
  • No schema validation built-in
  • Limited data types

Need to Convert JSON?

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Convert This Format

JSON → CSVJSON → XMLJSON → YAML