JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) is a lightweight data interchange format that is easy for humans to read and write, and easy for machines to parse and generate. Originally derived from JavaScript, it has become language-independent and is widely used for data exchange across different platforms and systems.

JSON uses key-value pairs to represent structured data and is often employed in APIs and web services. Its simplicity makes it ideal for transmitting data between a server and a client in a concise, readable format. It also allows nesting, where the value of a key is another JSON object or an array of JSON objects.

Example of a JSON object:

{
  "name": "Alice",
  "age": 30,
  "isEmployed": true,
  "languages": ["English", "French"],
  "address": {
    "street": "123 Maple Street",
    "city": "Paris",
    "country": "France"
  }
}

JSON has become a web standard due to its ubiquity and efficiency, particularly in representing simple hierarchical data structures. However, its simplicity also comes with limitations when it comes to expressing more complex relationships and metadata.

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JSON-LD

JSON-LD (JSON for Linked Data) is an extension of JSON designed to represent linked data. It builds on the foundation of JSON but adds semantic meaning to the data, making it interpretable not just by humans and machines, but also by systems that understand linked data principles, such as search engines or knowledge graphs.

JSON-LD allows data to be interconnected using URIs (Uniform Resource Identifiers), enabling the creation of structured, linked data that adheres to the principles of the semantic web. It’s especially useful in contexts where data needs to be shared across different systems or applications that need to understand its context or meaning.

Example of a JSON-LD object:

{
  "@context": {
    "name": "http://schema.org/name",
    "homepage": "http://schema.org/url",
    "image": "http://schema.org/image"
  },
  "@type": "Person",
  "name": "Alice",
  "homepage": "http://alice.example.com",
  "image": "http://alice.example.com/alice.jpg"
}

In this example, the @context key maps the local properties (such as name, homepage, and image) to well-defined terms from schema.org, which is a widely used vocabulary on the semantic web. By doing this, JSON-LD enables data to be linked in a meaningful way that machines can interpret, which is crucial for applications like search engines, social media platforms, and data-driven systems.

Query EngineDIDs