JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) is a data interchange format created from a subset of JavaScript. The Internet Engineering Task Force's RFC 4627 describes JSON as follows:

"JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) is a lightweight, text-based, language-independent data interchange format. It was derived from the ECMAScript Programming Language Standard. JSON defines a small set of formatting rules for the portable representation of structured data."

Benefits of JSON

JSON offers the same kind of benefits that XML does for exchanging data in a heterogeneous environment, such as the following:

  • JSON is self-describing. The syntax and hierarchical structure of the JSON strings can in some cases be interpreted by applications that do not already know what data to expect.
  • JSON is simple text. This fact makes it suitable and safe for transferring across platforms and operating systems that do not readily share more complex document types. As text, JSON can also be readily displayed and edited in simple editors.
  • JSON is compact. An average JSON string is about two thirds of the size of the same data in XML.
  • JSON is easy to learn, easy to read, and easy to understand.

Benefits of using JSON in OpenEdge

Some of the benefits of using JSON in your OpenEdge development work include:

  • OpenEdge includes built-in parsers for reading and writing JSON
  • JSON parser functionality is accessed using the same types of ABL objects, methods, and attributes as the built-in XML parsers
  • ABL JSON-enablement features are simple enough to quickly implement basic use cases
  • ABL JSON-enablement features can provide improved performance with, as well as native communication to, AJAX applications