JavaScript vs. JSON

JavaScript and JSON seem similar to each other – especially because both JS object and JSON object have the same syntax. But if we look at them in detail, we will see that there are quite some differences.

JSON

JSON is the short form of JavaScript Object Notation. It is a text format with human-readable languages that you can use to transfer data between different devices. You can say it is based on JavaScript, but they are not completely similar.

JSON is supported by over 50 programming languages like C, Python, Ruby, PHP, and many others. Thanks to its simple structure and readable language, it acts as a great alternative to XML.

JavaScript

JavaScript is one of the most popular programming languages in the world. It is widely used to create web pages and applications. There are quite some similarities between a JavaScript object and a JSON object.

Differences:

Now, let us take a look at the differences between a JSON object and a JavaScript object.

Syntax

When you are declaring a string in a JSON object, you need to put both the string name and value in double quotes. For example,

“name” = “JSON code”

You need to follow this syntax every time you assign a value to a string.

Meanwhile, in a JavaScript object, you don’t need to put the string name in quotes. For example,

name = “JavaScript code”

You can differentiate between a code in JSON and a code in JavaScript by looking at whether the string name is in quotes or not.

Comments

In a JSON object, you are not allowed to put any comments inside the file. It will show you an error. But you can place as many comments as you want in your JavaScript code.

Methods

You cannot place any function or method in a JSON object as it only supports data format. Meanwhile, a JavaScript object can contain as many member functions as you want.

Mutability

JavaScript objects are mutable. So, you can change the value of the member variables of all data types after you have assigned a value during declaration.

However, JSON’s mutability is slightly different than that of JavaScript. In a JSON object, the primitive data types like null, string, and numbers are immutable. You cannot change their value once you declare it. But structured data types like arrays and objects can be both mutable and immutable in nature.

Accessing Data Members

You can access member variables using dot and bracket notation in both JavaScript and JSON objects. However, while JavaScript uses curly braces for bracket notation, JSON objects use square brackets.

Conversion

You can convert a JSON object into a JavaScript object using the JSON.parse() function. However, if you retrieve some data from a file or server that is not in a JSON format, you will face some errors.

Similarly, you can convert a JavaScript object into a JSON object using the JSON.stringify() function. All major browsers like Chrome or Microsoft Edge support this function.

Conclusion

Objects are very important in modern-day programming. In almost every object-oriented programming language, we cannot run a simple code without using objects. It allows us to read our code more clearly. Also, they help in better representation of the data.

That is why you should know the difference between two of the most popular objects. We hope that this article has helped you identify the major differences between JSON and JavaScript. Happy coding.

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