SimpleJSON for .NET

SimpleJSON aims to be a small and fuss-free library for parsing and generating JSON from the .NET languages. It is /not/ a replacement for BinaryFormatter, XMLSerializer or JSON.NET, since it won't traverse your object graph trying to be clever.

It supports serialization of most primitive datatypes (strings, numbers and boolean with the exception of decimal), as well as instances of IDictionary to objects and IEnumerable to arrays.

When deserializing, it will build a tree of JObject instances; a small class that represents the data types that JSON supports.

Usage

To serialize something, use JSONEncoder.Encode(object):

JSONEncoder.Encode(new[] { 1, 2, 3}); // = [1,2,3]
JSONEncoder.Encode(new Dictionary<string, object>
                       { {"key", "value"}, {"other", 123} });
                   // = {"key":"value","other":123}

To deserialize something, use JSONDecoder.Decode(string):

JObject obj = JSONDecoder.Decode("[1,2,3]");
// Cast the JObject to the primitive type you're looking for
Debug.Assert((int)obj[0] == 1);
Debug.Assert((int)obj[1] == 2);
Debug.Assert((int)obj[2] == 3);

obj = JSONDecoder.Decode("{\"key\": {\"nested\": {\"more\": 123} }  }");
// Nested objects are accessed with ease
Debug.Assert((int)obj["key"]["nested"]["more"] == 123);

If decode encounters an invalid string, a ParseError is thrown with a position indicator where it went wrong.

For numbers JObject populates all fields big enough to hold the parsed number. For example;

• the number "150" will populate all number fields except sbyte (which has a upper bound of +127), and the MinInteger field will be set to Int8.
• -1500000 will only populate the signed fields int and long.
• the number "150.5" will only populate the float and double fields, since they are the only ones that can represent fractional numbers.

This means that you don't have to worry about if the original JSON representation had an integral or fractional value; just use the type you are looking for. If you want to check for overflows, use the IsNegative, MinInteger and MinFloat field to determine if the parsed number was bigger than what your data type can fit.

License

SimpleJSON.NET is licensed under a 3-Clause BSD License:

Copyright (c) 2011, Boldai AB All rights reserved.

Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:

• Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
• Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
• Neither the name of the <organization> nor the names of its contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software without specific prior written permission.

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL <COPYRIGHT HOLDER> BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE