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JUON.md

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JUON

JUON is short for JS URL Object Notation. Think of it as JSON values for URLs. That means the syntax does not use characters that are not safe to use in URLs.

It is not only inspired by JSON but designed to be easily translatable to JSON. For that, it shares the same types: object, array, string, number, boolean and null.

Where possible the JSON syntax was kept in JUON. This should help both translate but also remember the syntax for everyone already familiar with JSON.

The key syntax differences are:

  • object and arrays both use round brackets (...)
  • strings are quoted in single upticks '...'
  • positive numbers or positive exponents must not use + (omit it)
  • object member names are not quoted
  • object member names can only use A-Z a-z 0-9 - . _ @
  • object member names must start with a letter or @
  • empty array is (), empty object cannot be expressed (approximate with null)
  • as strings are quoted with single upticks " does not need escaping but instead ' is escaped as \'

Furthermore, JUON is more "lenient" than JSON both to be more user-friendly and to allow shorter URLs though the use of shorthands and omissions:

  • null can be encoded as the empty string or shortened to n
  • true can be shortened to t
  • false can be shortened to f
  • numbers can start with . (= 0.)
  • numbers can end with . (= .0)

In summary, JUON can express everything JSON can, except the empty object {}. Some characters in strings obviously will need URL encoding to be allowed in URLs.

Example

Here is a JSON example:

{
  "name": "Freddy",
  "age": 30,
  "car": null,
  "addresses": [{
    "street": "Elm Street",
    "zip": 1428,
    "city": "Springwood",
    "invoice": true
  }]
}

In JUON the equivalent Java String would be (formatting whitespace removed):

(name:'Freddy',age:30,car:null,addresses:((street:'Elm Street',zip:1428,city:'Springwood',invoice:true)))

This could be further shortened by using shorthands and omitting null values:

(name:'Freddy',age:30,car:,addresses:((street:'Elm Street',zip:1428,city:'Springwood',invoice:t)))

In a URL parameter the entire value would be URL encoded, resulting in:

(name:'Freddy',age:30,car:,addresses:((street:'Elm+Street',zip:1428,city:'Springwood',invoice:t)))

(Note: the + could also be %20)

Specification