douglascrockford/JSON-js
JSON Js
This is a JavaScript library for parsing and serializing JSON data, with a particular focus on handling objects that contain circular references. It provides a standard JSON parser that reads text and reconstructs JavaScript values without using the eval function, guarding against code injection, alongside a standard serializer that converts objects into JSON strings for data interchange.
The library distinguishes itself by offering specialized encoding and decoding for cyclical object graphs. It can serialize objects with circular references by replacing repeated object paths with JSONPath string placeholders, and then reconstruct the original graph topology from those placeholders during parsing, enabling a lossless round-trip of complex data structures. This is achieved through recursive object traversal and stack-based cycle detection during serialization, with string interning to reduce memory overhead in deeply nested structures.
The library covers the full cycle of JSON data interchange, from safe parsing and standard serialization to the specialized handling of cyclical structures. The documentation provides the source code and usage examples for the parsing and serialization functions.
