Introduction to JSON

JSON stands for JavaScript Object Notification. It is a text format for object. It is similar and simpler than XML. It is also shorter. It is hierarchical and self-describing. Thus JSON is easier to write than XML. It has support for arrays built in, which are denoted by brackets.

JSON has object that are key/value pairs. They must be in curly brackets. These are separated by commas. You can nest key/value pairs. The key and values should be strings enclosed in quotation marks. Speaking of string, JSON objects should be declared as NVARCHAR data type.

JSON is supported natively in SQL Server 2016 or later. There are no questions on JSON in Microsoft Exam 70-461. However, this topic will be tested in Exam 70-761, which I plan to take. Guess I better get SQL Server 2016 installed (that requires an operating system upgrade for me though).