Elements of JSON documents

A JSON document represents one serialized object or array that is delineated as follows:

• An object is a comma-separated series of name-value pairs enclosed in braces.
• An array is a comma-separated series of values enclosed in brackets.

JSON documents conform to the following rules:

• A name-value pair consists of a name enclosed in quotation marks separated from the corresponding value by a colon. For example, "identifier" : 25 is a name-value pair. Whitespace between the name and value is insignificant.
• A value can be a string, a number, an array, an object, or one of the following literal values: true, false, or null.
• Strings must be enclosed in quotation marks.
• Objects and arrays can be nested.

Examples

The following example shows a simple JSON document that consists of an object that only uses strings, numbers, and literals for the values:

The following example shows a complex JSON document that contains nested elements. The JSON consists of an object that uses strings, numbers, literals, arrays, and objects for the values. In the example:

• contacts is an array of strings.
• customerID is a number.
• info is an object that contains
  • A literal boolean (isPrimary)
  • A nested object (address) that contains several strings (street, city, state, zipCode)
  • An array of numbers (orderNumbers).

• companyName is a string.

  {
   "contacts" : ["Maria", "Robert", "Edward"],
   "customerID" : 1837,
   "info" : {
      "isPrimary" : false,
      "address" : {
         "street" : "123 Main Street",
          "city" : "San Jose",
          "state" : "CA",
          "zipCode" : "95134"
      },
      "orderNumbers" : [123, 456, 789]
   },
   "companyName" : "Calbro Services"
  }
  

The following example shows a JSON document that consists of an array that contains three objects. Each object in the array contains two name-value pairs.