JSONcompatible

JSONcompatible is a property of software, data formats, or APIs that ensures the value or payload can be encoded as JSON and decoded back without loss of information in typical environments.

JSON itself is defined by RFC 8259. It supports null, booleans, numbers, strings, arrays, and objects. JSON texts are sequences of Unicode characters and must not include comments or trailing commas. Keys in objects are strings.

To be JSON-compatible, values should use JSON-native types. Non-JSON types (dates, binaries, sets, functions) are typically represented as strings or arrays. Dates are often serialized to ISO 8601 strings.

Practical considerations include ensuring round-trip compatibility and using JSON Schema to express expected shapes. Beware of numeric precision for large integers, and avoid circular references that cannot be represented in JSON.

Limitations include the fact that JSON cannot represent references, functions, or comments; it is text-based and may be verbose. Some languages’ default serializers may drop fields by default, so it is important to test with realistic payloads. In documentation and design, a JSONcompatible interface signals that the data exchanged will conform to the JSON data model and be interoperable across systems that support JSON parsing and encoding.