Who invented JSON and when was it created?
Douglas Crockford originally specified the JSON format in the early 2000s. He and Chip Morningstar sent the first JSON message in April 2001, and the JSON.org website launched that same year.
Questions about JSON
Short answers, pulled from the story.
What does JSON stand for and how do you pronounce it?
JSON stands for JavaScript Object Notation. The 2017 international standard specifies the pronunciation as JAY-son, as in "Jason and The Argonauts," though JAY-sawn is also widely used. Crockford himself said in 2011 that he strictly does not care about the pronunciation.
When was JSON officially standardized?
JSON was first standardized in October 2013 as ECMA-404. It was then standardized as ISO/IEC 21778:2017 in November 2017, and on the 13th of December 2017 the Internet Engineering Task Force published RFC 8259, the current Internet Standard STD 90.
Why does JSON not support comments?
Crockford deliberately removed comments from JSON after observing developers using them to embed parsing directives. He explained in 2012 that this practice would have destroyed interoperability between different implementations.
What are the basic data types supported by JSON?
JSON supports six data types: Number, String, Boolean (true or false), Array, Object (a collection of key-value pairs), and null. Strings must be enclosed in double quotation marks, arrays use square brackets, and objects use curly brackets.
What is the "Good, not Evil" clause in the JSON license?
Crockford added the clause "The Software shall be used for Good, not Evil" to the JSON license as a way to open-source the libraries while mocking overly pedantic corporate lawyers. The clause created license compatibility problems because standard open-source definitions permit no restrictions on the purpose of use.