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Why Use Utiliti's JSON Tool?

Many online JSON formatters send your data to their servers for processing. This is a significant privacy risk—your JSON might contain API keys, authentication tokens, personal information, or proprietary data structures that you don't want exposed.

Utiliti's JSON viewer and formatter runs entirely in your browser. Your data never leaves your device, making it safe to paste:

  • API Responses: Debug responses containing user data or tokens
  • Configuration Files: Format configs with credentials or secrets
  • JWT Payloads: Examine decoded tokens without exposure
  • Database Exports: View exported data safely

Features

  • Tree View: Explore complex nested JSON with an interactive, collapsible tree structure
  • Format: Pretty-print minified JSON with proper indentation for readability
  • Minify: Compress formatted JSON to a single line for smaller payloads
  • Syntax Highlighting: Color-coded display makes structure easy to understand
  • Error Detection: Instantly identify syntax errors in malformed JSON

What is JSON?

JSON, which stands for JavaScript Object Notation, is a lightweight data interchange format that is easy for humans to read and write, and easy for machines to parse and generate. JSON is often used to transmit data between a server and a web application as an alternative to XML.

Key characteristics of JSON include:

  1. Readable Format: JSON data is represented as key-value pairs, similar to JavaScript object literals. It is easy for humans to read and write.
  2. Data Types: JSON supports several data types, including strings, numbers, booleans, arrays, objects, and null.
  3. Syntax: JSON syntax is straightforward. Objects are enclosed in curly braces , arrays in square brackets [], and key-value pairs are separated by colons :. Commas , separate elements within objects and arrays.

Here is a simple example of JSON:

{
  "name": "John Doe",
  "age": 30,
  "isStudent": false,
  "courses": ["Math", "History", "English"],
  "address": {
    "street": "123 Main St",
    "city": "Exampleville",
    "zipCode": "12345"
  }
}

In this example:

  • The JSON data represents a person with attributes such as name, age, whether they are a student, a list of courses, and an address.
  • Strings are enclosed in double quotes.
  • Numbers are not quoted.
  • Booleans are represented as true or false.
  • Arrays are ordered lists enclosed in square brackets.
  • Objects are sets of key-value pairs enclosed in curly braces.

JSON is widely used in web development for various purposes, including:

  • Data Exchange: JSON is commonly used for data exchange between a web server and a web application. APIs often return data in JSON format.
  • Configuration Files: JSON is used in configuration files for applications and settings.
  • Storage: JSON is used to store and exchange data in NoSQL databases.

JavaScript provides built-in methods (JSON.parse() and JSON.stringify()) to convert JSON data to and from JavaScript objects. Many programming languages also have libraries or built-in functions to work with JSON, making it a versatile and widely adopted data format for various applications.

Common Use Cases

  • Debugging API Responses: Paste raw API responses to visualize the data structure and find the values you need.
  • Validating JSON Syntax: Quickly check if your JSON is valid before using it in your application.
  • Formatting for Documentation: Pretty-print JSON examples for README files and API documentation.
  • Minifying for Production: Reduce JSON payload size by removing unnecessary whitespace.
  • Exploring Unknown Data: Use the tree view to navigate complex nested structures you're unfamiliar with.

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