JSON and XML

Web apps, give thanks.

Without JSON and XML, cloud computing would be much less practical than it is today. These two languages are much more than just acronyms; they allow us to use web apps in real-time, saving us time and oodles of frustration. JSON and XML help make the cloud a serious contender against traditional software.

JSON: JavaScript Object Notation

JSON is the abbreviation for JavaScript Object Notation, and is a data interchange language and toll that is based upon a subset of the JavaScript programming language. JSON is easy for computers to parse and generate, and is primarily used to send data real-time between a web application and a server without needing browser plugins.

In large part, JSON is a subset of the JavaScript Language, though there are differences (use of Unicode Line Terminators, etc.). JSON is also often used when implementing Ajax, a technique of pulling data from a database without having to refresh the entire webpage. Many large websites, such as Google, Yahoo! and Amazon.com, utilize JSON for some of their data feeds.

Objects (the “O” in JSON) refers to the collection of name value pairs (also called associative array).

The ordered list of values: Array/Vector List/Sequence:

  • Number: Single decimal number
  • String: Sequence of zero or more Unicode characters
  • Boolean: True or false statement
  • Array: Ordered list of zero or more values

XML: eXensible Markup Language

Similarly to JSON, XML is designed to store and transfer data inside of a web application, or between two different a web applications (through the use of an Application Program Interface). Whereas a language like HTML is primarily used to display data, XML is mainly designed for the carriage of data.

XML is a Unicode, textual based data format and is the most commonly used tool for the pushing of data between web applications on the internet. In the data carriage process XML can, store the data, structure the data and transport the data. Since XML is a carriage application it is useless without the ability to interface with a web application by which it carries out the transportation process.

adamJSON and XML