Online JSON beautifier and formatter

What is JSON?

JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) is a lightweight data interchange format. It is easy to read and write and easy to parse and generate using code.
It is based on a subset of the JavaScript programming language.

JSON is a text format that is completely language independent but uses conventions that are familiar to programmers of many languages like C, C++, C#, Java or JavaScript. These properties make JSON an ideal data-interchange language.

JSON syntax

JSON is built on two universal data structures:

• A collection of unordered name/value pairs: usually called in other languages, object, record, struct, dictionary, hash table, keyed list, or associative array.
• An ordered list of values: called in other languages, array, vector, list, or sequence.

The JSON syntax is derived from the JavaScript object notation syntax:

• Curly braces hold objects name/value pairs {...}
• Square brackets hold arrays [...]
• Object name/value pairs are separated by a colon"name": "value"
• Object and array members are separated by commas [1,2,3]
• Object names are enclosed in double quotes "name"
• Object names must be unique within the object
• String values must be enclosed in double quotes
• Values can be one of the following data types:
  • a string "value"
  • a number-5.56e7
  • an object{...}
  • an array [...]
  • a boolean true orfalse
  • nullnull

Most common JSON formatting

Formatting JSON data is a common task when working with JSON. It makes the JSON data more readable and easier to understand. Here are some common formatting rules:

• Indentation: Indentation is usually done using spaces or tabs. The most common indentation is 2 spaces or 4 spaces, or a tab. There is no strict rule for the indentation as JSON is a serialization format not a presentation format.
• Line breaks: Line breaks are used to separate different objects or arrays. Extra line breaks are usually not used as they add unnecessary space to the JSON data.