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JSON vs JSON Server: What are the differences?

  1. Key difference 1: Parsing and processing data JSON is a data interchange format used to represent structured data as a string. It is primarily used for data transmission between a server and a web application. On the other hand, JSON Server is a tool that enables developers to create a fully functional RESTful API from a JSON file. It acts as a mock server, allowing developers to test their web applications without the need for a real backend server. While JSON is used for parsing and processing data, JSON Server enhances the development process by providing a simulated backend environment.

  2. Key difference 2: Data modifications JSON does not provide direct functionalities for data modifications. It is a read-only format used for data representation and transmission. In contrast, JSON Server allows developers to perform CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) operations on the data present in the JSON file. Developers can make HTTP requests to the JSON Server and modify the data through the supported RESTful API endpoints. This capability of JSON Server makes it a more versatile tool for application development.

  3. Key difference 3: Real-time data synchronization JSON does not inherently support real-time data synchronization. It is a static representation of data at a given moment. However, JSON Server can be configured with other technologies like WebSocket or polling mechanisms to enable real-time data synchronization. Developers can implement features where changes made by one user are automatically reflected in the UI of other users using JSON Server. This feature makes JSON Server a suitable choice for collaborative web applications requiring real-time updates.

  4. Key difference 4: Authentication and authorization JSON does not provide built-in features for authentication and authorization. It does not have mechanisms to secure access to the data or validate the user's identity. On the contrary, JSON Server can be customized and extended to incorporate authentication and authorization mechanisms. Developers can implement authentication strategies like token-based authentication or integrate it with existing authentication systems. This added security layer makes JSON Server a more secure option for web application development.

  5. Key difference 5: Integration with frontend frameworks JSON can be seamlessly integrated with frontend frameworks or libraries using APIs to parse and manipulate JSON data. It is a format that is widely supported and used by various frontend technologies. On the other hand, JSON Server is specifically designed to integrate with frontend JavaScript frameworks like React, Angular, Vue.js, etc. It provides a consistent and easy-to-use API that aligns with frontend development patterns, making it an ideal choice for frontend-backend integration.

  6. Key difference 6: Persistence and scalability JSON itself does not provide persistence or scalability out of the box. It is a format that represents data without explicitly defining storage or scalability mechanisms. Conversely, JSON Server comes with persistence features where the modifications made to the data are saved in the corresponding JSON file. It can also handle a significant amount of data and serve multiple parallel requests efficiently. This capability makes JSON Server a valuable tool for prototyping, development, and testing purposes.

In Summary, JSON is a data interchange format used for parsing and processing data, while JSON Server is a tool that provides a simulated backend environment, enables data modifications, supports real-time data synchronization, offers authentication and authorization mechanisms, integrates well with frontend frameworks, and provides persistence and scalability features.

Advice on JSON and JSON Server
Needs advice
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JSONJSON
and
PythonPython

Hi. Currently, I have a requirement where I have to create a new JSON file based on the input CSV file, validate the generated JSON file, and upload the JSON file into the application (which runs in AWS) using API. Kindly suggest the best language that can meet the above requirement. I feel Python will be better, but I am not sure with the justification of why python. Can you provide your views on this?

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Replies (3)
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PythonPython

Python is very flexible and definitely up the job (although, in reality, any language will be able to cope with this task!). Python has some good libraries built in, and also some third party libraries that will help here. 1. Convert CSV -> JSON 2. Validate against a schema 3. Deploy to AWS

  1. The builtins include json and csv libraries, and, depending on the complexity of the csv file, it is fairly simple to convert:
import csv
import json

with open("your_input.csv", "r") as f:
    csv_as_dict = list(csv.DictReader(f))[0]

with open("your_output.json", "w") as f:
    json.dump(csv_as_dict, f)
  1. The validation part is handled nicely by this library: https://pypi.org/project/jsonschema/ It allows you to create a schema and check whether what you have created works for what you want to do. It is based on the json schema standard, allowing annotation and validation of any json

  2. It as an AWS library to automate the upload - or in fact do pretty much anything with AWS - from within your codebase: https://aws.amazon.com/sdk-for-python/ This will handle authentication to AWS and uploading / deploying the file to wherever it needs to go.

A lot depends on the last two pieces, but the converting itself is really pretty neat.

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GolangGolang

I would use Go. Since CSV files are flat (no hierarchy), you could use the encoding/csv package to read each row, and write out the values as JSON. See https://medium.com/@ankurraina/reading-a-simple-csv-in-go-36d7a269cecd. You just have to figure out in advance what the key is for each row.

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Max Musing
Founder & CEO at BaseDash · | 1 upvotes · 310.8K views
Recommends
on
Node.jsNode.js
at

This should be pretty doable in any language. Go with whatever you're most familiar with.

That being said, there's a case to be made for using Node.js since it's trivial to convert an object to JSON and vice versa.

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Pros of JSON
Pros of JSON Server
  • 5
    Simple
  • 4
    Widely supported
  • 7
    Stupid simple

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What is JSON?

JavaScript Object Notation is a lightweight data-interchange format. It is easy for humans to read and write. It is easy for machines to parse and generate. It is based on a subset of the JavaScript Programming Language.

What is JSON Server?

Created with <3 for front-end developers who need a quick back-end for prototyping and mocking.

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Aug 28 2019 at 3:10AM

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PythonJavaAmazon S3+16
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What are some alternatives to JSON and JSON Server?
YAML
A human-readable data-serialization language. It is commonly used for configuration files, but could be used in many applications where data is being stored or transmitted.
Protobuf
Protocol buffers are Google's language-neutral, platform-neutral, extensible mechanism for serializing structured data – think XML, but smaller, faster, and simpler.
Avro
It is a row-oriented remote procedure call and data serialization framework developed within Apache's Hadoop project. It uses JSON for defining data types and protocols, and serializes data in a compact binary format.
MongoDB
MongoDB stores data in JSON-like documents that can vary in structure, offering a dynamic, flexible schema. MongoDB was also designed for high availability and scalability, with built-in replication and auto-sharding.
OData
It is an ISO/IEC approved, OASIS standard that defines a set of best practices for building and consuming RESTful APIs. It helps you focus on your business logic while building RESTful APIs without having to worry about the various approaches to define request and response headers, status codes, HTTP methods, URL conventions, media types, payload formats, query options, etc.
See all alternatives