JSON has become so ubiquitous in modern application development that it’s easy to take for granted, but this DenverJUG meetup made the case that there’s a lot more to it than just a simple, lightweight alternative to XML for an AJAX call.
We covered what’s often called the JSON ecosystem: the standards and best practices that have grown up around JSON as it’s become the backbone of data interchange across the web. That included a look at schema tools for structuring and validating JSON documents, patterns for building RESTful services around JSON payloads, and even approaches to full-text search over JSON data.
For attendees already using JSON day to day, the session was a chance to see what additional tooling exists beyond the basics, and where that tooling actually earns its keep versus adding unnecessary complexity. For anyone newer to JSON, it was a good primer on why it’s worth reaching for in the first place and where it tends to fit best in an application’s architecture.
It’s a good reminder that even the tools we think of as simple and solved tend to have more depth once you look past the basics, and there’s often a whole ecosystem of tooling built up around them that’s worth knowing about.
Thanks to everyone who came out for the discussion, and to the sponsors who help keep DenverJUG’s meetups free for the local Java community.