On the outermost level, a JSON object starts with a { and end with a }.
Sample data:
{
"cars": {
"Nissan": [
{"model":"Sentra", "doors":4},
{"model":"Maxima", "doors":4},
{"model":"Skyline", "doors":2}
],
"Ford": [
{"model":"Taurus", "doors":4},
{"model":"Escort", "doors":4}
]
}
}
If the JSON is assigned to a variable called data, then accessing it would be like the following:
data.cars['Nissan'][0].model // Sentra
data.cars['Nissan'][1].model // Maxima
data.cars['Nissan'][2].doors // 2
for (var make in data.cars) {
for (var i = 0; i < data.cars[make].length; i++) {
var model = data.cars[make][i].model;
var doors = data.cars[make][i].doors;
alert(make + ', ' + model + ', ' + doors);
}
}
Another approach (using an associative array for car models rather than an indexed array):
{
"cars": {
"Nissan": {
"Sentra": {"doors":4, "transmission":"automatic"},
"Maxima": {"doors":4, "transmission":"automatic"}
},
"Ford": {
"Taurus": {"doors":4, "transmission":"automatic"},
"Escort": {"doors":4, "transmission":"automatic"}
}
}
}
data.cars['Nissan']['Sentra'].doors // 4
data.cars['Nissan']['Maxima'].doors // 4
data.cars['Nissan']['Maxima'].transmission // automatic
for (var make in data.cars) {
for (var model in data.cars[make]) {
var doors = data.cars[make][model].doors;
alert(make + ', ' + model + ', ' + doors);
}
}
Edit:
Correction: A JSON object starts with { and ends with }, but it's also valid to have a JSON array (on the outermost level), that starts with [ and ends with ].
Also, significant syntax errors in the original JSON data have been corrected: All key names in a JSON object must be in double quotes, and all string values in a JSON object or a JSON array must be in double quotes as well.
See:
- JSON specification
- JSONLint - The JSON validator
On the outermost level, a JSON object starts with a { and end with a }.
Sample data:
{
"cars": {
"Nissan": [
{"model":"Sentra", "doors":4},
{"model":"Maxima", "doors":4},
{"model":"Skyline", "doors":2}
],
"Ford": [
{"model":"Taurus", "doors":4},
{"model":"Escort", "doors":4}
]
}
}
If the JSON is assigned to a variable called data, then accessing it would be like the following:
data.cars['Nissan'][0].model // Sentra
data.cars['Nissan'][1].model // Maxima
data.cars['Nissan'][2].doors // 2
for (var make in data.cars) {
for (var i = 0; i < data.cars[make].length; i++) {
var model = data.cars[make][i].model;
var doors = data.cars[make][i].doors;
alert(make + ', ' + model + ', ' + doors);
}
}
Another approach (using an associative array for car models rather than an indexed array):
{
"cars": {
"Nissan": {
"Sentra": {"doors":4, "transmission":"automatic"},
"Maxima": {"doors":4, "transmission":"automatic"}
},
"Ford": {
"Taurus": {"doors":4, "transmission":"automatic"},
"Escort": {"doors":4, "transmission":"automatic"}
}
}
}
data.cars['Nissan']['Sentra'].doors // 4
data.cars['Nissan']['Maxima'].doors // 4
data.cars['Nissan']['Maxima'].transmission // automatic
for (var make in data.cars) {
for (var model in data.cars[make]) {
var doors = data.cars[make][model].doors;
alert(make + ', ' + model + ', ' + doors);
}
}
Edit:
Correction: A JSON object starts with { and ends with }, but it's also valid to have a JSON array (on the outermost level), that starts with [ and ends with ].
Also, significant syntax errors in the original JSON data have been corrected: All key names in a JSON object must be in double quotes, and all string values in a JSON object or a JSON array must be in double quotes as well.
See:
- JSON specification
- JSONLint - The JSON validator
A good book I'm reading: Professional JavaScript for Web Developers by Nicholas C. Zakas 3rd Edition has the following information regarding JSON Syntax:
"JSON Syntax allows the representation of three types of values".
Regarding the one you're interested in, Arrays it says:
"Arrays are represented in JSON using array literal notation from JavaScript. For example, this is an array in JavaScript:
var values = [25, "hi", true];
You can represent this same array in JSON using a similar syntax:
[25, "hi", true]
Note the absence of a variable or a semicolon. Arrays and objects can be used together to represent more complex collections of data, such as:
{
"books":
[
{
"title": "Professional JavaScript",
"authors": [
"Nicholas C. Zakas"
],
"edition": 3,
"year": 2011
},
{
"title": "Professional JavaScript",
"authors": [
"Nicholas C.Zakas"
],
"edition": 2,
"year": 2009
},
{
"title": "Professional Ajax",
"authors": [
"Nicholas C. Zakas",
"Jeremy McPeak",
"Joe Fawcett"
],
"edition": 2,
"year": 2008
}
]
}
This Array contains a number of objects representing books, Each object has several keys, one of which is "authors", which is another array. Objects and arrays are typically top-level parts of a JSON data structure (even though this is not required) and can be used to create a large number of data structures."
To serialize (convert) a JavaScript object into a JSON string you can use the JSON object stringify() method. For the example from Mark Linus answer:
var cars = [{
color: 'gray',
model: '1',
nOfDoors: 4
},
{
color: 'yellow',
model: '2',
nOfDoors: 4
}];
cars is now a JavaScript object. To convert it into a JSON object you could do:
var jsonCars = JSON.stringify(cars);
Which yields:
"[{"color":"gray","model":"1","nOfDoors":4},{"color":"yellow","model":"2","nOfDoors":4}]"
To do the opposite, convert a JSON object into a JavaScript object (this is called parsing), you would use the parse() method. Search for those terms if you need more information... or get the book, it has many examples.