What is JSON?
JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) is a lightweight, text-based format for data storage and exchange using key-value pairs and arrays, readable by both humans and machines, and common in REST APIs and data exchange.
JavaScript Object Notation
Technical Definition: A lightweight, text-based format for data storage and exchange. JSON uses key-value pairs and arrays in a structure readable by both humans and machines. JSON is common in REST APIs and data exchange.
Why it matters: JSON has become the universal language of digital integration. Systems that export data in JSON can be integrated with almost any analytics platform, cloud service or business system without custom data conversion.
HubMind’s view: We advocate architectures where all systems can export data in JSON format. A system that communicates only in a proprietary binary format is a red flag for vendor lock-in.
External link: JSON.org.
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Example and trade-offs
An energy meter can send a timestamped value as JSON to an API: the receiver gets structure without knowing the sender’s programming language. But the format does not say what a field means, how stale data may be or who may read it. Schemas, versioning, validation and authentication must surround JSON.
HubMind’s view
Our point: JSON is a useful transport garment—not an information model. Why: the same syntax can carry governed business data or ambiguous special fields that nobody dares to change. Recommendation: publish a machine-readable schema, named owners, version rules and test data with every JSON contract.
Related concepts: REST API, metadata and data governance.
External reference: IETF RFC 8259, the formal JSON specification.
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