VB.NET

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).

VB.NET

Dim success As Boolean = 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:
Dim strJsonArray As String = "[ { ""name"": ""Bill"" }, { ""name"": ""Ted"" } ]"

' Load it into a JSON array.
Dim jsonA As New Chilkat.JsonArray
success = jsonA.Load(strJsonArray)
Debug.WriteLine("number of array elements: " & jsonA.Size)

' This is an object containing an array:
Dim strJsonObj As String = "{ ""characters"": [ ""Bill"", ""Ted"" ] }"

' Load it into a JSON object.
Dim jsonO As New Chilkat.JsonObject
success = jsonO.Load(strJsonObj)
Debug.WriteLine("number of object members: " & jsonO.Size)