JSON stands for JavaScript Object Notation, which is a format for storing simple objects and data structures. JSON files are typically backup files that are used to take a backup of data and restore it to the application when needed.
JSON files were once used to communicate data between servers and web apps. JSON files, on the other hand, are now utilized for a variety of additional reasons. JSON files are used by a number of well-known websites and search engines. Here are a few examples:
- JSON files are used by Mozilla Firefox to save bookmark backups.
- JSON files are used by Google+ to save profile data.
- It’s used to store unstructured data in NoSQL databases like Elasticsearch and MongoDB.
- Several server-based JavaScript applications, such as node.js, reactJS, and others, use this file to hold configuration information.
What is the benefit of using a JSON file?
It is a sort of data transfer format that is widely used. Users mainly use it to send data from a web application to a server (for backup purposes) and vice versa (from a server to another web server) (to restore the data). When storing JSON files, the.json extension is used, which is analogous to the XML file format.
Let’s have a look at why we should use JSON files –
- JSON files are small and take up little space when stored.
- A text editor is commonly used to generate and edit these files. The majority of these text editors are available for free.
- JSON files are human-readable, which means they can be read by anyone.
- These files can be opened with any simple text editor, such as Notepad, which is quite user-friendly.
- JSON is supported by almost all programming languages, which offer libraries and functions for reading and writing JSON formats.
How can I open a JSON file on a different operating system?
JSON files are plain text files with no formatting. You can usually access it with any text editor, however different operating systems, such as Windows, iMac, Linux, and macOS X, utilize different tools or application software to do so. These are usually open-source programs, which means you won’t have to pay anything to use them.
On the Linux platform, Vim is a file opener that may be used to open JSON files. GitHub Atom is a cross-platform JSON file viewer. Other than these tools, you can open JSON files with web browsers like Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox, which we’ll go over in-depth later.
A list of tools for various operating systems is provided below.
To open a JSON file on Windows, use the following tools.
On the Windows platform, the following tools can open JSON files:
- Notepad
- Notepad++
- Microsoft Notepad
- Microsoft WordPad
- Mozilla Firefox
- File Viewer Plus
- Altova XMLSpy
All of these tools operate on the Windows operating system, with some of them being system software and others being available for download from websites.
To open a JSON file on Linux, use the following utilities.
On the Linux platform, the following utilities are used to open JSON files:
- Vim
- Pico
- GNU Emacs
- GitHub Atom (Cross-platform)
- Mozilla Firefox, and
- Google Chrome
To open a JSON file on an iMac, use the following tools.
To open a JSON file, iMac and macOS X include certain tools or programs. The following is a list of these resources:
- MacVim
- Apple TextEdit
- Mozilla Firefox
- Bare Bones TextWrangler
What do you think?