Text Processing with Ruby

JSON

Once upon a time, all was XML. Java dominated the world, and for better or for worse the result was that XML dominated both as an interchange format and as a serialization format. It was the format of choice when you needed to pass data from one platform, process, or computer to another. It was the format of choice to store objects and data that programs later reconstructed into in-memory objects. It was everywhere.

In recent years, though, the move away from XML has been swift. Thanks to the predominance of JavaScript and the explosion in the world of web development, you’re now more likely to encounter JSON in the real world than you are XML.

In fact, it’s everywhere. Query any API over the web, and JSON is likely to be the default format—or ...