JSON Article

Introduction

JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) is an open-standard file format that uses human-readable text to transmit data objects consisting of attribute-value pairs and array data types. It is also used as a data format for asynchronous browser-server communication, including as a replacement for XML in some AJAX-style systems.

JSON was first developed in early 2000s by Douglas Crockford. It was developed due to the need for stateless, real-time server-to-browser communication protocol without using external sources like plugins.

Features

JSON was first extended from JavaScript, but now works with multiple languages. JSON files use the .json file format.

It is lightweight which makes it useable with most programming languages.

Can be used with XML and can be used to make asynchronous web applications. JSON can also be used in various AJAX frameworks and in simple text files.

Deploys a concise format - Name/Value pair based approach.

Pros/Cons

JSON has its pros and cons: (vs XML)

Pros	Cons
Very good support by all browsers, along with a simple API. XML, on the other hand, has more complex APIs and while XML parsers are built into modern browsers, cross-browser XML parsing can be tricky.	JSON has no support in Web services (eg application servers), XML is supported by all Web service products.
JSON has a fully automated way of de-serializing/serializing JavaScript objects, minimum to no coding as well as the de-serialization being fast in JS. XML developers have to write JS code to transfer code / information from JS to XML and vice versa, it is also slower.	JSON has a narrow focus, used for RPC (remote call protocol) only, primarily with JS clients (although one can argue that it's one of the strengths), XML, on the other hand employs a broad focus - it can be used for RPC, EDI, metadata etc.
JSON has a concise format due to name/value pair - based approach. XML has a verbose format because of tags and namespaces.	However, JSON has no namespace support, which makes it poor for extensibility. XML, on the other hand, has good namespace support, which also has many different extensibility options in Schema.
JSON has support from many AJAX toolkits and JS libaries. XML is not well supported by AJAX toolkits.	JSON has limited development tools support compared to XML, which is supported by a wide array of development tools.

Extra Programs

Other similar technologies and standards such as XML, AJAX
Protocols and server communication designs such as SOAP and REST
Programming languages such as JavaScript, C, Java, C#
Front End Web Technologies such as HTML, CSS
Other Web Technologies / Frameworks such as Node.js, ReactJS, AngularJS, Vue.js
Text Editors such as Sublime, Notepad++

Sources

Summary

In conclusion:

JSON is an awesome lightweight interchangeable standard which can be used with all sorts of programming languages and can be used to create asynchronous web applications (with the help of AJAX), however, because it is quick and not complex, it lacks many other options which XML has. XML is the stronger (and possibly strongest) technology in Web Development. Both can be used in conjunction with API's. JSON is the better technology to start out with due to its lower complexity and ease of use.