Ruby

Understanding JSON Array vs JSON Object

See more JSON Examples

This example explains the difference between a JSON Array and a JSON Object. A JSON Array begins with "[" and ends with "]", whereas a JSON Object begins with "{" and ends with "}".

Elements contained in a JSON array are accessed by index, whereas elements in a JSON object are typically accessed by name (but can also be accessed by index).

Ruby

require 'chilkat'

success = false

# A JSON array should be loaded into a Chilkat JSON array,
# whereas a JSON object should be loaded into a Chilkat JSON object.

# A JSON array may contain objects, and a JSON object may contains arrays, but
# it is the top-level (outermost) element that defines whether the JSON
# document is an array or an object.
# An array begins and ends with "[" ... "]"
# An object begins and ends with "{" ... "}"

# For example, an array containing 2 objects:
strJsonArray = "[ { \"name\": \"Bill\" }, { \"name\": \"Ted\" } ]"

# Load it into a JSON array.
jsonA = Chilkat::CkJsonArray.new()
success = jsonA.Load(strJsonArray)
print "number of array elements: " + jsonA.get_Size().to_s() + "\n";

# This is an object containing an array:
strJsonObj = "{ \"characters\": [ \"Bill\", \"Ted\" ] }"

# Load it into a JSON object.
jsonO = Chilkat::CkJsonObject.new()
success = jsonO.Load(strJsonObj)
print "number of object members: " + jsonO.get_Size().to_s() + "\n";