JSON Notation

JSON is a syntax for serializing objects, arrays, numbers, strings, booleans, and null.  It is based upon JavaScript syntax but is distinct from it: some JavaScript is not JSON, and some JSON is not JavaScript.

The main differences between standard object and array literal notation and JSON notation are that all property names in a JSON object must be double-quoted strings and that trailing commas in objects and arrays are forbidden.  The main differences between standard number notation and JSON number notation are that in JSON leading zeroes are prohibited and the decimal point in a number must be followed by at least one digit.  The main differences between standard string notation and JSON string notation are that in JSON only a limited set of characters may be escaped in strings, certain control characters are prohibited in strings, the Unicode line separator (U+2028) and paragraph separator (U+2029) characters are permitted, and that strings must be double-quoted.  

The full JSON syntax is as follows:

JSON = null
    or true or false
    or JSONNumber
    or JSONString
    or JSONObject
    or JSONArray

JSONNumber = - PositiveNumber
          or PositiveNumber
PositiveNumber = DecimalNumber
              or DecimalNumber . Digits
              or DecimalNumber . Digits ExponentPart
              or DecimalNumber ExponentPart
DecimalNumber = 0
             or OneToNine Digits
ExponentPart = e Exponent
            or E Exponent
Exponent = Digits
        or + Digits
        or - Digits
Digits = Digit
      or Digits Digit
Digit = 0 through 9
OneToNine = 1 through 9

JSONString = ""
          or " StringCharacters "
StringCharacters = StringCharacter
                or StringCharacters StringCharacter
StringCharacter = any character
                  except " or \ or U+0000 through U+001F
               or EscapeSequence
EscapeSequence = \" or \/ or \\ or \b or \f or \n or \r or \t
              or \u HexDigit HexDigit HexDigit HexDigit
HexDigit = 0 through 9
        or A through F
        or a through f

JSONObject = { }
          or { Members }
Members = JSONString : JSON
       or Members , JSONString : JSON

JSONArray = [ ]
         or [ ArrayElements ]
ArrayElements = JSON
             or ArrayElements , JSON

Insignificant whitespace may be present anywhere except within a JSONNumber (numbers must contain no whitespace) or JSONString (where it is interpreted as the corresponding character in the string, or would cause an error). The tab character (U+0009), carriage return (U+000D), line feed (U+000A), and space (U+0020) characters are the only valid whitespace characters.