JSON: a dependable exchange format

JSON represents objects, arrays, strings, numbers, booleans and null. Property names and strings use double quotes. Comments and trailing commas are not part of its grammar.

A small example

{
  "filename": "report.csv",
  "bytes": 2048,
  "archived": false
}

Interoperability first

Use UTF-8 when exchanging JSON between systems. Keep object member names unique: implementations handle duplicates differently. Object ordering should not carry application meaning.

JavaScript numbers have finite precision. Send large integer identifiers as strings when exact round trips matter. A formatter checks syntax; it does not validate your application's schema.

Reference: RFC 8259.

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