JavaScript Objects vs. JSON Strings: What are the Key Differences?

JavaScript Objects vs. JSON Strings

Key/Property Name Validity

In JavaScript objects, key names can be enclosed in either single or double quotes or left unquoted. Quoted key names are required if the key contains special characters or is a reserved word. In contrast, JSON requires all key names to be enclosed in double quotes.

Object vs. JSON

JSON is a text-based data format for representing data as an ordered list of values or an unordered collection of key-value pairs. A JavaScript object, on the other hand, is a native data type that can contain properties and methods.

When converting a JavaScript object to JSON using JSON.stringify(), the following happens:

• Property names are always quoted with double quotes.
• Functions and dates are converted to strings.
• Circular references are excluded.

Parsing JSON Strings

The recommended method for parsing JSON strings in JavaScript is:

var javascriptObj = JSON.parse(jsonString);

Older browsers may require the inclusion of json2.js for JSON parsing support. jQuery also provides a method called jQuery.parseJSON() that uses JSON.parse() if available or falls back to a custom implementation.

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