JSON Best Practices

JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) is a lightweight data interchange format. Here are essential best practices for working with JSON.

Formatting Guidelines

Use proper indentation for readability

Quote all strings including object keys

Avoid trailing commas as they break parsing

Use consistent naming conventions

Security Considerations

Always validate JSON data before processing

Be careful with user-generated JSON content

Use proper escaping for special characters

Consider size limits for JSON payloads

Performance Tips

Keep JSON structures as flat as possible

Avoid deeply nested objects when not necessary

Use compression for large JSON files

Consider streaming for very large datasets

Common Pitfalls

Circular references will cause stringify errors

Undefined values are omitted in JSON

Date objects need special handling

Function definitions cannot be serialized

Following these practices will help you work more effectively with JSON data.