Introduction to JavaScript Object Notation: A To-the-Point Guide to JSON

by Lindsay Bassett

Overview

What is JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) and how can you put it to work? This concise guide helps busy IT professionals get up and running quickly with this popular data interchange format, and provides a deep understanding of how JSON works. Author Lindsay Bassett begins with an overview of JSON syntax, data types, formatting, and security concerns before exploring the many ways you can apply JSON today.

From Web APIs and server-side language libraries to NoSQL databases and client-side frameworks, JSON has emerged as a viable alternative to XML for exchanging data between different platforms. If you have some programming experience and understand HTML and JavaScript, this is your book.

• Learn why JSON syntax represents data in name-value pairs
• Explore JSON data types, including object, string, number, and array
• Find out how you can combat common security concerns
• Learn how the JSON schema verifies that data is formatted correctly
• Examine the relationship between browsers, web APIs, and JSON
• Understand how web servers can both request and create data
• Discover how jQuery and other client-side frameworks use JSON
• Learn why the CouchDB NoSQL database uses JSON to store data

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781491929438
Publisher:	O'Reilly Media, Incorporated
Publication date:	08/05/2015
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	126
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Lindsay has a passion for both writing, teaching and technology. Her online technology courses and books share the same "to-the-point" style that cater to the busy IT Professional or student. She distills each subject down to the fundamentals and has a knack for turning dry technical subjects into enjoyable light reading.

Table of Contents

Preface vii

1 What Is JSON? 1

JSON Is a Data Interchange Format 1

JSON Is Programming Language Independent 2

Key Terms and Concepts 4

2 JSON Syntax 5

JSON Is Based on JavaScript Object Literals 5

Name-Value Pairs 6

Proper JSON Syntax 7

Syntax Validation 10

JSON as a Document 11

The JSON MediaType 11

Key Terms and Concepts 11

3 JSON Data Types 13

Quick Look at Data Types 13

The JSON Data Types 15

The JSON Object Data Type 16

The JSON String Data Type 17

The JSON Number Data Type 19

The JSON Boolean Data Type 20

The JSON null Data Type 20

The JSON Array Data Type 21

Key Terms and Concepts 26

4 JSON Schema 29

Contracts with Validation Magic 30

Introduction to JSON Schema 31

Key Terms and Concepts 37

5 JSON Security Concerns 39

A Quick Look at Client- and Server-Side Relationships 39

Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) 40

Injection Attacks 43

Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) 43

Holes in Security: Architectural Decisions 45

Key Terms and Concepts 46

6 The JavaScript XMLHttpRequest and Web APIs 49

Web APIs 50

The JavaScript XMLHttpRequest 53

Relationship Woes and Rules About Sharing 57

Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS) 57

JSON-P 58

Key Terms and Concepts 60

7 JSON and Client-Side Frameworks 63

jQuery and JSON 64

AngularJS 66

Key Terms and Concepts 71

8 JSON and NoSQL 73

The CouchDB Database 74

The CouchDB API 77

Key Terms and Concepts 85

9 JSON on the Server Side 87

Serializing, Deserializing, and Requesting JSON 88

ASP.NET 88

PHP 92

A Smorgasbord of JSON HTTP Requests 97

Ruby on Rails 97

Node.js 98

Java 99

Key Terms and Concepts 100

10 Conclusion 101

JSON as a Configuration File 101

The Big Picture 104

Index 107