The Universal Language of Data

JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) is a text-based data format used to exchange data between a client and server. Despite its name, it's supported by virtually every programming language.

JSON Looks Like JavaScript Objects

{
  "name": "Alice",
  "age": 28,
  "isAdmin": false,
  "hobbies": ["reading", "coding"],
  "address": { "city": "Paris", "zip": "75001" }
}

Working with JSON in JavaScript

Serialize (Object → String) for sending:

const user = { name: 'Alice', age: 28 };
const jsonString = JSON.stringify(user);
// '{"name":"Alice","age":28}'

Deserialize (String → Object) after receiving:

const obj = JSON.parse(jsonString);
console.log(obj.name); // 'Alice'

Pretty-print for debugging:

console.log(JSON.stringify(user, null, 2)); // indent with 2 spaces