What is JSON?

JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) is a lightweight data interchange format. It's easy for humans to read and write and easy for machines to parse and generate.

Here's a simple example of JSON:

{
  "name": "John Doe",
  "age": 30,
  "hobbies": [
    "reading",
    "cycling"
  ],
  "address": {
    "street": "123 Main St",
    "city": "Anytown"
  },
  "isStudent": false,
  "grades": null
}

What is JSON syntax?

The JSON syntax is a subset of the JavaScript syntax. It consists of key-value pairs and arrays. Keys must be strings enclosed in double quotes, and values can be strings, numbers, booleans, objects, arrays, or null. Objects are enclosed in curly braces {}, and arrays are enclosed in square brackets [].

Does JSON names require double quotes?

In JSON, all keys (also called names) must be enclosed in double quotes. For example, {"name": "John"} is valid JSON, but {name: "John"} is not. This is one of the key differences between JSON and JavaScript object literal notation.