XML to JSON

What is XML?

XML (Extensible Markup Language) is a markup language for storing and transmitting data. It uses custom tags to describe data structure and meaning. XML is designed to be self-descriptive, platform-independent, and human-readable.

XML Basic Structure

XML documents consist of declarations, root elements, child elements, and attributes, following strict nesting rules and syntax specifications. All tags must be properly closed, and attribute values must be enclosed in quotes.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<root>
    <element attribute="value">Content</element>
</root>

What is JSON?

JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) is a lightweight data interchange format that is easy for humans to read and write, and easy for machines to parse and generate. It is based on a subset of the JavaScript programming language but uses a text format that is completely language-independent.

JSON Data Types

JSON supports six data types: objects (collections of key-value pairs), arrays (ordered lists of values), strings (text enclosed in double quotes), numbers, booleans (true/false), and null.

{
    "string": "Text",
    "number": 42,
    "boolean": true,
    "nullValue": null,
    "array": [1, 2, 3],
    "object": {
        "key": "value"
    }
}

Main Differences

XML uses tags to describe data structure and supports comments and namespaces, while JSON uses key-value pairs and arrays with more concise syntax. JSON is typically more commonly used in web applications and APIs, while XML still has widespread use in configuration files and enterprise-level applications.

Conversion Considerations

In the process of converting from XML to JSON, XML attributes and elements need to be reasonably mapped to JSON structures. Keeping the preserve attributes option enabled ensures no information is lost, while removing namespaces can make the JSON more concise. For repeated elements, they are usually converted to JSON arrays.