NAME

Mojo::JSON::MaybeXS - use JSON::MaybeXS as the JSON encoder for Mojolicious

SYNOPSIS

use Mojo::JSON::MaybeXS;
use Mojo::JSON qw/encode_json decode_json true false/;

# Preload for scripts using Mojo::JSON
$ perl -MMojo::JSON::MaybeXS -S morbo myapp.pl

# Must be set in environment for hypnotoad
$ PERL5OPT=-MMojo::JSON::MaybeXS hypnotoad myapp.pl

DESCRIPTION

Mojo::JSON::MaybeXS is a monkey-patch module for using JSON::MaybeXS as the JSON encoder for a Mojolicious application, or anything else using Mojo::JSON. It must be loaded before Mojo::JSON so the new functions will be properly exported.

Since Mojolicious version 7.87, Mojo::JSON has delegated to Cpanel::JSON::XS by default if installed and recent enough. Installing Mojolicious version 7.87+ and Cpanel::JSON::XS version 4.09+ resolves the below listed caveats between these modules, and is sufficient to improve the performance of Mojo::JSON without the use of this module.

CAVEATS

JSON::MaybeXS may load different modules behind the scenes depending on what is available, and these modules have slightly different behavior from Mojo::JSON and occasionally from each other. References to the behavior of JSON::MaybeXS below are actually describing the behavior shared among the modules it loads.

JSON::MaybeXS is used with the options canonical, allow_nonref, allow_unknown, allow_blessed, and convert_blessed. canonical enables sorting of hash keys when encoding to JSON objects as Mojo::JSON does. allow_nonref allows encoding and decoding of bare values outside of hash/array references, since Mojo::JSON does not prevent this, in accordance with RFC 7159. The other options prevent the encoder from blowing up when encountering values that cannot be represented in JSON to better match the behavior of Mojo::JSON. See below for more specifics.

To better match the behavior of Mojo::JSON, certain options may be enabled depending on the backend that is used. If Cpanel::JSON::XS version 3.0112 or greater is loaded, it will be used with the option stringify_infnan. If either Cpanel::JSON::XS of at least version 3.0206 or JSON::PP is loaded, it will be used with the option escape_slash. If Cpanel::JSON::XS version 4.09 or greater is loaded, it will be used with the option allow_dupkeys.

As of this writing, the author has found the following incompatibilities:

Object Conversion

Both JSON::MaybeXS and Mojo::JSON will attempt to call the TO_JSON method of a blessed reference to produce a JSON-friendly structure. If that method does not exist, Mojo::JSON or Cpanel::JSON::XS version 3.0207 or greater will stringify the object, while JSON::XS or JSON::PP will always encode it to null.

print encode_json([DateTime->now]);
# Mojo::JSON or Cpanel::JSON::XS >= 3.0207: ["2014-11-30T04:31:13"]
# JSON::XS or JSON::PP: [null]

Unblessed References

JSON::MaybeXS does not allow unblessed references other than to hashes, arrays, or the scalar values 0 and 1, and will encode them to null. Before Mojolicious version 7.87, Mojo::JSON will treat all scalar references the same as references to 0 or 1 and will encode them to true or false depending on their boolean value, and other references (code, filehandle, etc) will be stringified.

Since Mojolicious version 7.87, Mojo::JSON's behavior with unblessed references is the same as JSON::MaybeXS.

print encode_json([\'asdf', sub { 1 }]);
# Mojo::JSON (Mojolicious >= 7.87): [null,null]
# JSON::MaybeXS: [null,null]

Escapes

Mojo::JSON currently escapes the slash character / for security reasons. Before Mojolicious version 7.87, it also escaped the unicode characters u2028 and u2029. Cpanel::JSON::XS version 3.0206 or greater and JSON::PP will have the option set to escape the slash character, and JSON::XS does not escape these characters. This does not affect decoding of the resulting JSON.

print encode_json(["/\x{2028}/\x{2029}"]);
# Mojo::JSON (Mojolicious >= 7.87): ["\/ \/ "]
# Cpanel::JSON::XS >= 3.0206 or JSON::PP: ["\/ \/ "]
# JSON::XS: ["/ / "]
# Both decode to arrayref containing: "/\x{2028}/\x{2029}"

inf and nan

Mojo::JSON encodes inf and nan to strings. Cpanel::JSON::XS version 3.0112 or greater will also stringify inf and nan. However, JSON::XS or JSON::PP will encode them as numbers (barewords) producing invalid JSON.

print encode_json([9**9**9, -sin 9**9**9]);
# Mojo::JSON or Cpanel::JSON::XS >= 3.0112: ["inf","nan"] (on Linux)
# JSON::XS or JSON::PP: [inf,nan]

Upgraded Numbers

JSON::MaybeXS, if using JSON::XS, will attempt to guess if a value to be encoded is numeric or string based on whether Perl has ever populated a string value for it internally. Therefore, using a variable containing 13 in a string context will cause it to be encoded as "13" even if the variable itself was not changed. Mojo::JSON, JSON::PP version 2.92 or greater, or Cpanel::JSON::XS version 3.0109 or greater will encode 13 as 13 regardless of whether it has been used as a string.

my ($num1, $num2) = (13, 14);
my $str = "$num1";
print encode_json([$num1, $num2, $str]);
# Mojo::JSON, JSON::PP >= 2.92, Cpanel::JSON::XS >= 3.0109: [13,14,"13"]
# JSON::XS: ["13",14,"13"]

Duplicate Keys

Mojo::JSON, JSON::XS, and JSON::PP will silently accept duplicate keys in the same JSON object when decoding a JSON string. Cpanel::JSON::XS version 3.0235 or greater will throw an exception if duplicate keys are encountered. Cpanel::JSON::XS version 4.09 or greater will have the option set to once again accept duplicate keys.

print dumper decode_json('{"foo":1, "bar":2, "foo":3}');
# Mojo::JSON, JSON::XS, or JSON::PP: { bar => 2, foo => 3 }
# Cpanel::JSON::XS >= 3.0235 and < 4.09: "Duplicate keys not allowed" exception

BUGS

This is a monkey-patch of one of a few possible modules into another, and they have incompatibilities, so there will probably be bugs. Report any issues on the public bugtracker.

AUTHOR

Dan Book, dbook@cpan.org

CREDITS

Sebastian Riedel, author of Mojolicious, for basic implementation.

COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE

Copyright 2014, Dan Book.

This library is free software; you may redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the Artistic License version 2.0.

SEE ALSO

Mojo::JSON, JSON::MaybeXS, Cpanel::JSON::XS, JSON::XS, JSON::PP