/ 
JSON-Tiny-0.20
River stage two • 23 direct dependents • 30 total dependents
/ JSON::Tiny

NAME

JSON::Tiny - Minimalistic JSON. No dependencies.

SYNOPSIS

use JSON::Tiny;

my $json  = JSON::Tiny->new;
my $bytes = $json->encode({foo => [1, 2], bar => 'hello!'});
my $hash  = $json->decode($bytes);

DESCRIPTION

JSON::Tiny is a standalone adaptation of Mojo::JSON, from the fabulous Mojolicious "web in a box" framework (version 3.43). It has been adapted as a single-source-file module of about 345 lines of code with core-only dependencies.

Key features include relaxed JSON handling, transparent Unicode support, speed, small memory footprint, and a minimal code base ideal for bundling or embedding.

Mojo::JSON was chosen as a launch point because it is already light-weight, robust, and well tested. Furthermore, Mojo::JSON's tests were able to be adapted as easily as the module itself to a configuration free of non-core dependencies.

Most of the remainder of this document is adapted directly from Mojo::JSON. The names have been changed to protect the innocent.

JSON::Tiny is a minimalistic and relaxed implementation of RFC 4627. While it is possibly the fastest pure-Perl JSON parser available, you should not use it for validation.

It supports normal Perl data types like Scalar, Array reference, Hash reference and will try to call the TO_JSON method on blessed references, or stringify them if it doesn't exist.

[1, -2, 3]     -> [1, -2, 3]
{"foo": "bar"} -> {foo => 'bar'}

Literal names will be translated to and from JSON::Tiny constants or a similar native Perl value.

true  -> JSON::Tiny->true
false -> JSON::Tiny->false
null  -> undef

Decoding UTF-16 (LE/BE) and UTF-32 (LE/BE) will be handled transparently, encoding will only generate UTF-8. The two Unicode whitespace characters u2028 and u2029 will always be escaped to make JSONP easier.

ATTRIBUTES

JSON::Tiny implements the following attributes.

error

my $err = $json->error;
$json   = $json->error('Parser error');

Parser errors.

METHODS

JSON::Tiny implements the following methods.

new

my $json = JSON::Tiny->new;

Instantiate a JSON::Tiny object.

decode

my $array = $json->decode($bytes);
my $hash  = $json->decode($bytes);

Decode JSON.

encode

my $bytes = $json->encode({foo => 'bar'});

Encode Perl data structure.

false

my $false = JSON::Tiny->false;
my $false = $json->false;

False value, used because Perl has no native equivalent.

true

my $true = JSON::Tiny->true;
my $true = $json->true;

True value, used because Perl has no native equivalent.

It's Tiny

Comparing JSON::Tiny to JSON::PP (from the JSON distribution):

  • JSON::PP is highly configurable (and comparatively complex). JSON::Tiny provides sane defaults, and a tiny zero-configuration API.

  • Installation: cpanm JSON::PP versus cpanm JSON::Tiny: JSON::PP: 5.2 seconds. JSON::Tiny: 1.9 seconds (including download).

  • Minimal Dependencies: Both JSON::PP and JSON::Tiny use only core dependencies. JSON::Tiny requires Perl 5.10+, while JSON::PP requires 5.6+.

  • Simple Design: JSON has 2254 lines of code in six modules and five files with a distribution tarball of 84KB. JSON::Tiny has 345 lines of code, and a single module in a single file. It can even be easily embedded within existing code. The tarball is 17KB.

  • Simple Interface: JSON::PP has around 42 functions and methods. JSON::Tiny has six. The simplified interface provides reasonable DWIM defaults without complexity.

  • Fast Performance (Benchmarks):

               Rate   JSON_PP JSON_Tiny
JSON_PP   288/s        --      -62%
JSON_Tiny 767/s      166%        --

    The benchmark script is included in this distribution's examples/ folder. Note: JSON will automatically use JSON::XS if it's available, and in that case, JSON::XS wins by an order of magnitude, but it's XS.

  • Light Memory Demands: From the distribution's examples/ folder, json_pp_alone.pl and json_tiny_alone.pl were tested, first using Devel::MemoryTrace::Light, and then using http://valgrind.org/valgrind. The results were as follows:

    • JSON (JSON::PP): Devel::MemoryTrace::Lite: About 1.7MB. valgrind: about 6.1MB.

    • JSON::Tiny: Devel::MemoryTrace::Lite: About 1.1MB. valgrind: about 5.4MB.

    These two utilities have different methods of measuring memory use, but both show JSON::Tiny to be 600-700KB lighter weight than JSON::PP.

CONFIGURATION AND ENVIRONMENT

No special considerations.

DEPENDENCIES

This module uses only core dependencies and Perl 5.10+.

INCOMPATIBILITIES

This module isn't compatible with Perl versions pre-5.10.0.

AUTHOR

David Oswald, <davido at cpan.org>

The code and tests were adapted with minimal changes from Mojo::JSON.

SUPPORT

Support requests for this module should be directed to the author. Direct bug reports to CPAN's Request Tracker (RT), listed below.

You can find documentation for this module with the perldoc command.

perldoc JSON::Tiny

This module is maintained in a public Github repo. You may look for information at:

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thank-you to the Mojolicious development team for producing an excellent product that implements light-weight versions of many useful tools. This module wouldn't exist (or be as well tested and designed) if it had to be written from scratch.

Also to Randal Schwartz for mentioning that he had a need for an embeddable light-weight JSON parser, presenting a pure-Regex parser on PerlMonks (http://www.perlmonks.org/?node_id=995856), and showing it to Los Angeles Perl Mongers (September 2012). Though he wasn't involved in JSON::Tiny, it was the exploration of alternatives to his solution that provided the inspiration.

LICENSE AND COPYRIGHT

Copyright 2012 David Oswald.

This program is free software, you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the Artistic License version 2.0.

See http://www.perlfoundation.org/artistic_license_2_0 for more information.

SEE ALSO

JSON, JSON::PP, JSON::XS, Mojo::JSON, Mojolicious.