JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) is a lightweight data-interchange format that's easy for humans to read and write, and easy for machines to parse and generate. It has become one of the most widely used data formats in web development, APIs, and mobile applications.

Why Use JSON?

JSON's popularity stems from its simplicity and versatility. It is text-based, making it easy to debug, and it follows a key-value pair structure, which is ideal for representing data structures such as objects and arrays. Because of this, JSON is compatible with most programming languages, including JavaScript, Python, Java, and many others.

Key Features of JSON

• Human-Readable: JSON's structure is easy to understand and write, making it a favorite among developers.
• Lightweight: JSON is compact, making it ideal for transmitting data across networks with minimal overhead.
• Language-Independent: JSON is based on JavaScript syntax but is language-independent, meaning it can be used with any programming language.
• Interoperable: JSON is often used in RESTful APIs, allowing different systems to communicate and exchange data efficiently.

JSON Syntax Basics

JSON data is organized in a simple structure:

• Objects: Represented by curly braces , containing key-value pairs. Example: {"name": "John", "age": 30}
• Arrays: Represented by square brackets [], containing ordered values. Example: ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]
• Values: Can be strings, numbers, objects, arrays, true/false, or null. Example: "name": "John"