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from their website:<br />
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&quot;JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) is a lightweight data-interchange format. It is easy for humans to read and write. It is easy for machines to parse and generate. It is based on a subset of the JavaScript Programming Language, Standard ECMA-262 3rd Edition - December 1999. JSON is a text format that is completely language independent but uses conventions that are familiar to programmers of the C-family of languages, including C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, Perl, Python, and many others. These properties make JSON an ideal data-interchange language.&quot;<br />
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See more here: <a href="http://remysharp.com/2007/10/08/what-is-jsonp/" rel="ugc">http://remysharp.com/2007/10/08/what-is-jsonp/</a>
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It can be used anytime you want to store anything as text. &nbsp;You can store it in a JSON format so that you'll have sort of 'common base' for anything that you might want to read or interpret it with later. &nbsp;Almost like a format for storing data as text.
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that sounds like a string, so its like serialization?
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one example of json's use: firefox's default method of backing up bookmarks is in a json file
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It's not really serialization, it's just a common way of storing info in a text file. &nbsp;That way if you want to read that text file from another program or language, you know what format it's going to be in so you can pick data out easily.
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What does JSON do?
What is it good for?
How to use it?

What is JSON?

JavaScript is a dynamic, object-based language commonly used for client-side scripting in web browsers. Recently, server side JavaScript frameworks have also emerged. JavaScript runs on nearly every operating system and  in almost every mainstream web browser.

JavaScript

PHP is a widely-used server-side scripting language especially suited for web development, powering tens of millions of sites from Facebook to personal WordPress blogs. PHP is often paired with the MySQL relational database, but includes support for most other mainstream databases. By utilizing different Server APIs, PHP can work on many different web servers as a server-side scripting language.

JScript is Microsoft's dialect of the ECMAScript standard that is used in Microsoft's Internet Explorer. JScript is implemented as an Active Scripting engine, so it can be "plugged in" to OLE Automation applications that support Active Scripting, such as Internet Explorer, Active Server Pages, and Windows Script Host. It also means such applications can use multiple Active Scripting languages, e.g., JScript, VBScript or PerlScript.