JSON (JavaScript Object Notation)

JSON, or JavaScript Object Notation, is a lightweight, text-based data interchange format that uses human-readable key-value pairs and ordered lists to represent structured information. Originally derived from JavaScript, JSON has become language-independent and is now the dominant format for transmitting data between web servers and clients. Its simplicity, compactness, and native support in virtually every modern programming language have made it the default choice for RESTful APIs, configuration files, and data serialization across the technology industry, including the geospatial sector. In the geospatial world, JSON serves as the foundation for GeoJSONGeoJSONGeoJSON is an open standard format for encoding geographic data structures using JavaScript Object Notation (JSON). I..., a standardized format defined by RFC 7946 for encoding geographic features. A GeoJSON document wraps coordinate geometries such as points, lines, and polygons inside a familiar JSON structure, making it trivially easy to parse, generate, and transmit spatial data over the web. Web mapping libraries like LeafletLeafletLeaflet is a lightweight, mobile-friendly JavaScript library for building interactive mapping applications. Known for..., MapboxMapboxMapbox is a robust platform that equips developers with tools to create highly customizable, interactive maps for web... GL JS, and OpenLayersOpenLayersOpenLayers is a mature, open-source JavaScript library for building interactive web maps that support a wide range of... consume GeoJSON natively, and major platforms including ArcGIS OnlineArcGIS OnlineArcGIS Online is a cloud-based mapping and spatial analysis platform by Esri that enables organizations to create, sh..., Google Earth EngineGoogle Earth EngineGoogle Earth Engine is a cloud-based geospatial analysis platform that combines a multi-petabyte catalog of satellite..., and CARTOCARTOCARTO is a cloud-native location intelligence platform that enables organizations to analyze and visualize geospatial... support GeoJSON as both an import and export format. This ubiquity means that analysts can move vector dataVector DataVector data represents geographic features as discrete points, lines, and polygons with associated attribute informat... between tools with minimal friction. Compared to XML-based geospatial formats such as GML (Geography Markup Language) and KML (Keyhole Markup Language), JSON offers a more concise syntax with lower parsing overhead. Where XML requires opening and closing tags for every element, JSON achieves the same structure with braces and brackets, resulting in smaller payloads and faster transmission over networks. This efficiency matters for web mapping applications that must load feature data on demand as users pan and zoom a map. While XML-based standards remain important in formal data-exchange contexts governed by OGC specifications, JSON-based alternatives are increasingly dominant in developer-facing APIs. All major geospatial REST APIs return JSON by default. The ArcGISArcGISArcGIS is a leading GIS platform offering tools for spatial analysis, mapping, and data visualization. It serves a wi... REST API, Mapbox APIs, Google Maps Platform, and OpenWeatherMap all serialize responses as JSON objects, and developers interact with them using standard HTTP requests and JSON parsing libraries. Server-side GISGISGeographic Information Systems (GIS) enable users to analyze and visualize spatial data to uncover patterns, relation... tools also embrace JSON: PostGISPostGISPostGIS is an open-source extension for PostgreSQL databases that introduces support for geographic objects, allowing... can export query results as GeoJSON using the ST_AsGeoJSON function, QGISQGISQGIS is a user-friendly, open-source GIS platform that provides tools for geospatial data analysis, mapping, and inte... reads and writes GeoJSON files, and command-line utilities like ogr2ogrogr2ogrogr2ogr is a command-line tool from the GDAL/OGR suite for converting and transforming vector geospatial data between... convert between JSON and dozens of other spatial formats. As geospatial architectures increasingly rely on microservices, serverless functions, and real-time data streams, JSON's role as the lingua franca of web-based data exchange continues to grow. Extensions like TopoJSON reduce file size by encoding topologyTopologyTopology in GIS defines the spatial relationships between geographic features, including adjacency, connectivity, and..., and JSON-LD adds linked-data semantics for richer metadata. For any team building or consuming web mapping services, understanding JSON is a foundational skill that underpins nearly every modern geospatial workflow.