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Revision 1.21 by root, Sun Mar 25 02:32:40 2007 UTC vs.
Revision 1.60 by root, Mon Aug 27 02:03:23 2007 UTC

4 4
5=head1 SYNOPSIS 5=head1 SYNOPSIS
6 6
7 use JSON::XS; 7 use JSON::XS;
8 8
9 # exported functions, croak on error 9 # exported functions, they croak on error
10 # and expect/generate UTF-8
10 11
11 $utf8_encoded_json_text = to_json $perl_hash_or_arrayref; 12 $utf8_encoded_json_text = to_json $perl_hash_or_arrayref;
12 $perl_hash_or_arrayref = from_json $utf8_encoded_json_text; 13 $perl_hash_or_arrayref = from_json $utf8_encoded_json_text;
13 14
14 # objToJson and jsonToObj are exported for JSON
15 # compatibility, but should not be used in new code.
16
17 # oo-interface 15 # OO-interface
18 16
19 $coder = JSON::XS->new->ascii->pretty->allow_nonref; 17 $coder = JSON::XS->new->ascii->pretty->allow_nonref;
20 $pretty_printed_unencoded = $coder->encode ($perl_scalar); 18 $pretty_printed_unencoded = $coder->encode ($perl_scalar);
21 $perl_scalar = $coder->decode ($unicode_json_text); 19 $perl_scalar = $coder->decode ($unicode_json_text);
22 20
83 81
84package JSON::XS; 82package JSON::XS;
85 83
86use strict; 84use strict;
87 85
88BEGIN {
89 our $VERSION = '0.8'; 86our $VERSION = '1.5';
90 our @ISA = qw(Exporter); 87our @ISA = qw(Exporter);
91 88
92 our @EXPORT = qw(to_json from_json objToJson jsonToObj); 89our @EXPORT = qw(to_json from_json);
93 require Exporter;
94 90
95 require XSLoader; 91use Exporter;
96 XSLoader::load JSON::XS::, $VERSION; 92use XSLoader;
97}
98 93
99=head1 FUNCTIONAL INTERFACE 94=head1 FUNCTIONAL INTERFACE
100 95
101The following convinience methods are provided by this module. They are 96The following convinience methods are provided by this module. They are
102exported by default: 97exported by default:
125 120
126 $perl_scalar = JSON::XS->new->utf8->decode ($json_text) 121 $perl_scalar = JSON::XS->new->utf8->decode ($json_text)
127 122
128except being faster. 123except being faster.
129 124
125=item $is_boolean = JSON::XS::is_bool $scalar
126
127Returns true if the passed scalar represents either JSON::XS::true or
128JSON::XS::false, two constants that act like C<1> and C<0>, respectively
129and are used to represent JSON C<true> and C<false> values in Perl.
130
131See MAPPING, below, for more information on how JSON values are mapped to
132Perl.
133
130=back 134=back
135
131 136
132=head1 OBJECT-ORIENTED INTERFACE 137=head1 OBJECT-ORIENTED INTERFACE
133 138
134The object oriented interface lets you configure your own encoding or 139The object oriented interface lets you configure your own encoding or
135decoding style, within the limits of supported formats. 140decoding style, within the limits of supported formats.
151 156
152If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will not 157If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will not
153generate characters outside the code range C<0..127> (which is ASCII). Any 158generate characters outside the code range C<0..127> (which is ASCII). Any
154unicode characters outside that range will be escaped using either a 159unicode characters outside that range will be escaped using either a
155single \uXXXX (BMP characters) or a double \uHHHH\uLLLLL escape sequence, 160single \uXXXX (BMP characters) or a double \uHHHH\uLLLLL escape sequence,
156as per RFC4627. 161as per RFC4627. The resulting encoded JSON text can be treated as a native
162unicode string, an ascii-encoded, latin1-encoded or UTF-8 encoded string,
163or any other superset of ASCII.
157 164
158If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will not escape Unicode 165If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will not escape Unicode
159characters unless required by the JSON syntax. This results in a faster 166characters unless required by the JSON syntax or other flags. This results
160and more compact format. 167in a faster and more compact format.
168
169The main use for this flag is to produce JSON texts that can be
170transmitted over a 7-bit channel, as the encoded JSON texts will not
171contain any 8 bit characters.
161 172
162 JSON::XS->new->ascii (1)->encode ([chr 0x10401]) 173 JSON::XS->new->ascii (1)->encode ([chr 0x10401])
163 => ["\ud801\udc01"] 174 => ["\ud801\udc01"]
175
176=item $json = $json->latin1 ([$enable])
177
178If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will encode
179the resulting JSON text as latin1 (or iso-8859-1), escaping any characters
180outside the code range C<0..255>. The resulting string can be treated as a
181latin1-encoded JSON text or a native unicode string. The C<decode> method
182will not be affected in any way by this flag, as C<decode> by default
183expects unicode, which is a strict superset of latin1.
184
185If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will not escape Unicode
186characters unless required by the JSON syntax or other flags.
187
188The main use for this flag is efficiently encoding binary data as JSON
189text, as most octets will not be escaped, resulting in a smaller encoded
190size. The disadvantage is that the resulting JSON text is encoded
191in latin1 (and must correctly be treated as such when storing and
192transfering), a rare encoding for JSON. It is therefore most useful when
193you want to store data structures known to contain binary data efficiently
194in files or databases, not when talking to other JSON encoders/decoders.
195
196 JSON::XS->new->latin1->encode (["\x{89}\x{abc}"]
197 => ["\x{89}\\u0abc"] # (perl syntax, U+abc escaped, U+89 not)
164 198
165=item $json = $json->utf8 ([$enable]) 199=item $json = $json->utf8 ([$enable])
166 200
167If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will encode 201If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will encode
168the JSON result into UTF-8, as required by many protocols, while the 202the JSON result into UTF-8, as required by many protocols, while the
244 278
245Example, space_before and indent disabled, space_after enabled: 279Example, space_before and indent disabled, space_after enabled:
246 280
247 {"key": "value"} 281 {"key": "value"}
248 282
283=item $json = $json->relaxed ([$enable])
284
285If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then C<decode> will accept some
286extensions to normal JSON syntax (see below). C<encode> will not be
287affected in anyway. I<Be aware that this option makes you accept invalid
288JSON texts as if they were valid!>. I suggest only to use this option to
289parse application-specific files written by humans (configuration files,
290resource files etc.)
291
292If C<$enable> is false (the default), then C<decode> will only accept
293valid JSON texts.
294
295Currently accepted extensions are:
296
297=over 4
298
299=item * list items can have an end-comma
300
301JSON I<separates> array elements and key-value pairs with commas. This
302can be annoying if you write JSON texts manually and want to be able to
303quickly append elements, so this extension accepts comma at the end of
304such items not just between them:
305
306 [
307 1,
308 2, <- this comma not normally allowed
309 ]
310 {
311 "k1": "v1",
312 "k2": "v2", <- this comma not normally allowed
313 }
314
315=item * shell-style '#'-comments
316
317Whenever JSON allows whitespace, shell-style comments are additionally
318allowed. They are terminated by the first carriage-return or line-feed
319character, after which more white-space and comments are allowed.
320
321 [
322 1, # this comment not allowed in JSON
323 # neither this one...
324 ]
325
326=back
327
249=item $json = $json->canonical ([$enable]) 328=item $json = $json->canonical ([$enable])
250 329
251If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will output JSON objects 330If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will output JSON objects
252by sorting their keys. This is adding a comparatively high overhead. 331by sorting their keys. This is adding a comparatively high overhead.
253 332
278resulting in an invalid JSON text: 357resulting in an invalid JSON text:
279 358
280 JSON::XS->new->allow_nonref->encode ("Hello, World!") 359 JSON::XS->new->allow_nonref->encode ("Hello, World!")
281 => "Hello, World!" 360 => "Hello, World!"
282 361
362=item $json = $json->allow_blessed ([$enable])
363
364If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will not
365barf when it encounters a blessed reference. Instead, the value of the
366B<convert_blessed> option will decide wether C<null> (C<convert_blessed>
367disabled or no C<to_json> method found) or a representation of the
368object (C<convert_blessed> enabled and C<to_json> method found) is being
369encoded. Has no effect on C<decode>.
370
371If C<$enable> is false (the default), then C<encode> will throw an
372exception when it encounters a blessed object.
373
374=item $json = $json->convert_blessed ([$enable])
375
376If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then C<encode>, upon encountering a
377blessed object, will check for the availability of the C<TO_JSON> method
378on the object's class. If found, it will be called in scalar context
379and the resulting scalar will be encoded instead of the object. If no
380C<TO_JSON> method is found, the value of C<allow_blessed> will decide what
381to do.
382
383The C<TO_JSON> method may safely call die if it wants. If C<TO_JSON>
384returns other blessed objects, those will be handled in the same
385way. C<TO_JSON> must take care of not causing an endless recursion cycle
386(== crash) in this case. The name of C<TO_JSON> was chosen because other
387methods called by the Perl core (== not by the user of the object) are
388usually in upper case letters and to avoid collisions with the C<to_json>
389function.
390
391This setting does not yet influence C<decode> in any way, but in the
392future, global hooks might get installed that influence C<decode> and are
393enabled by this setting.
394
395If C<$enable> is false, then the C<allow_blessed> setting will decide what
396to do when a blessed object is found.
397
398=item $json = $json->filter_json_object ([$coderef->($hashref)])
399
400When C<$coderef> is specified, it will be called from C<decode> each
401time it decodes a JSON object. The only argument is a reference to the
402newly-created hash. If the code references returns a single scalar (which
403need not be a reference), this value (i.e. a copy of that scalar to avoid
404aliasing) is inserted into the deserialised data structure. If it returns
405an empty list (NOTE: I<not> C<undef>, which is a valid scalar), the
406original deserialised hash will be inserted. This setting can slow down
407decoding considerably.
408
409When C<$coderef> is omitted or undefined, any existing callback will
410be removed and C<decode> will not change the deserialised hash in any
411way.
412
413Example, convert all JSON objects into the integer 5:
414
415 my $js = JSON::XS->new->filter_json_object (sub { 5 });
416 # returns [5]
417 $js->decode ('[{}]')
418 # throw an exception because allow_nonref is not enabled
419 # so a lone 5 is not allowed.
420 $js->decode ('{"a":1, "b":2}');
421
422=item $json = $json->filter_json_single_key_object ($key [=> $coderef->($value)])
423
424Works remotely similar to C<filter_json_object>, but is only called for
425JSON objects having a single key named C<$key>.
426
427This C<$coderef> is called before the one specified via
428C<filter_json_object>, if any. It gets passed the single value in the JSON
429object. If it returns a single value, it will be inserted into the data
430structure. If it returns nothing (not even C<undef> but the empty list),
431the callback from C<filter_json_object> will be called next, as if no
432single-key callback were specified.
433
434If C<$coderef> is omitted or undefined, the corresponding callback will be
435disabled. There can only ever be one callback for a given key.
436
437As this callback gets called less often then the C<filter_json_object>
438one, decoding speed will not usually suffer as much. Therefore, single-key
439objects make excellent targets to serialise Perl objects into, especially
440as single-key JSON objects are as close to the type-tagged value concept
441as JSON gets (its basically an ID/VALUE tuple). Of course, JSON does not
442support this in any way, so you need to make sure your data never looks
443like a serialised Perl hash.
444
445Typical names for the single object key are C<__class_whatever__>, or
446C<$__dollars_are_rarely_used__$> or C<}ugly_brace_placement>, or even
447things like C<__class_md5sum(classname)__>, to reduce the risk of clashing
448with real hashes.
449
450Example, decode JSON objects of the form C<< { "__widget__" => <id> } >>
451into the corresponding C<< $WIDGET{<id>} >> object:
452
453 # return whatever is in $WIDGET{5}:
454 JSON::XS
455 ->new
456 ->filter_json_single_key_object (__widget__ => sub {
457 $WIDGET{ $_[0] }
458 })
459 ->decode ('{"__widget__": 5')
460
461 # this can be used with a TO_JSON method in some "widget" class
462 # for serialisation to json:
463 sub WidgetBase::TO_JSON {
464 my ($self) = @_;
465
466 unless ($self->{id}) {
467 $self->{id} = ..get..some..id..;
468 $WIDGET{$self->{id}} = $self;
469 }
470
471 { __widget__ => $self->{id} }
472 }
473
283=item $json = $json->shrink ([$enable]) 474=item $json = $json->shrink ([$enable])
284 475
285Perl usually over-allocates memory a bit when allocating space for 476Perl usually over-allocates memory a bit when allocating space for
286strings. This flag optionally resizes strings generated by either 477strings. This flag optionally resizes strings generated by either
287C<encode> or C<decode> to their minimum size possible. This can save 478C<encode> or C<decode> to their minimum size possible. This can save
288memory when your JSON texts are either very very long or you have many 479memory when your JSON texts are either very very long or you have many
289short strings. It will also try to downgrade any strings to octet-form 480short strings. It will also try to downgrade any strings to octet-form
290if possible: perl stores strings internally either in an encoding called 481if possible: perl stores strings internally either in an encoding called
291UTF-X or in octet-form. The latter cannot store everything but uses less 482UTF-X or in octet-form. The latter cannot store everything but uses less
292space in general. 483space in general (and some buggy Perl or C code might even rely on that
484internal representation being used).
293 485
486The actual definition of what shrink does might change in future versions,
487but it will always try to save space at the expense of time.
488
294If C<$enable> is true (or missing), the string returned by C<encode> will be shrunk-to-fit, 489If C<$enable> is true (or missing), the string returned by C<encode> will
295while all strings generated by C<decode> will also be shrunk-to-fit. 490be shrunk-to-fit, while all strings generated by C<decode> will also be
491shrunk-to-fit.
296 492
297If C<$enable> is false, then the normal perl allocation algorithms are used. 493If C<$enable> is false, then the normal perl allocation algorithms are used.
298If you work with your data, then this is likely to be faster. 494If you work with your data, then this is likely to be faster.
299 495
300In the future, this setting might control other things, such as converting 496In the future, this setting might control other things, such as converting
301strings that look like integers or floats into integers or floats 497strings that look like integers or floats into integers or floats
302internally (there is no difference on the Perl level), saving space. 498internally (there is no difference on the Perl level), saving space.
499
500=item $json = $json->max_depth ([$maximum_nesting_depth])
501
502Sets the maximum nesting level (default C<512>) accepted while encoding
503or decoding. If the JSON text or Perl data structure has an equal or
504higher nesting level then this limit, then the encoder and decoder will
505stop and croak at that point.
506
507Nesting level is defined by number of hash- or arrayrefs that the encoder
508needs to traverse to reach a given point or the number of C<{> or C<[>
509characters without their matching closing parenthesis crossed to reach a
510given character in a string.
511
512Setting the maximum depth to one disallows any nesting, so that ensures
513that the object is only a single hash/object or array.
514
515The argument to C<max_depth> will be rounded up to the next highest power
516of two. If no argument is given, the highest possible setting will be
517used, which is rarely useful.
518
519See SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS, below, for more info on why this is useful.
520
521=item $json = $json->max_size ([$maximum_string_size])
522
523Set the maximum length a JSON text may have (in bytes) where decoding is
524being attempted. The default is C<0>, meaning no limit. When C<decode>
525is called on a string longer then this number of characters it will not
526attempt to decode the string but throw an exception. This setting has no
527effect on C<encode> (yet).
528
529The argument to C<max_size> will be rounded up to the next B<highest>
530power of two (so may be more than requested). If no argument is given, the
531limit check will be deactivated (same as when C<0> is specified).
532
533See SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS, below, for more info on why this is useful.
303 534
304=item $json_text = $json->encode ($perl_scalar) 535=item $json_text = $json->encode ($perl_scalar)
305 536
306Converts the given Perl data structure (a simple scalar or a reference 537Converts the given Perl data structure (a simple scalar or a reference
307to a hash or array) to its JSON representation. Simple scalars will be 538to a hash or array) to its JSON representation. Simple scalars will be
317 548
318JSON numbers and strings become simple Perl scalars. JSON arrays become 549JSON numbers and strings become simple Perl scalars. JSON arrays become
319Perl arrayrefs and JSON objects become Perl hashrefs. C<true> becomes 550Perl arrayrefs and JSON objects become Perl hashrefs. C<true> becomes
320C<1>, C<false> becomes C<0> and C<null> becomes C<undef>. 551C<1>, C<false> becomes C<0> and C<null> becomes C<undef>.
321 552
553=item ($perl_scalar, $characters) = $json->decode_prefix ($json_text)
554
555This works like the C<decode> method, but instead of raising an exception
556when there is trailing garbage after the first JSON object, it will
557silently stop parsing there and return the number of characters consumed
558so far.
559
560This is useful if your JSON texts are not delimited by an outer protocol
561(which is not the brightest thing to do in the first place) and you need
562to know where the JSON text ends.
563
564 JSON::XS->new->decode_prefix ("[1] the tail")
565 => ([], 3)
566
322=back 567=back
568
323 569
324=head1 MAPPING 570=head1 MAPPING
325 571
326This section describes how JSON::XS maps Perl values to JSON values and 572This section describes how JSON::XS maps Perl values to JSON values and
327vice versa. These mappings are designed to "do the right thing" in most 573vice versa. These mappings are designed to "do the right thing" in most
330 576
331For the more enlightened: note that in the following descriptions, 577For the more enlightened: note that in the following descriptions,
332lowercase I<perl> refers to the Perl interpreter, while uppcercase I<Perl> 578lowercase I<perl> refers to the Perl interpreter, while uppcercase I<Perl>
333refers to the abstract Perl language itself. 579refers to the abstract Perl language itself.
334 580
581
335=head2 JSON -> PERL 582=head2 JSON -> PERL
336 583
337=over 4 584=over 4
338 585
339=item object 586=item object
351are represented by the same codepoints in the Perl string, so no manual 598are represented by the same codepoints in the Perl string, so no manual
352decoding is necessary. 599decoding is necessary.
353 600
354=item number 601=item number
355 602
356A JSON number becomes either an integer or numeric (floating point) 603A JSON number becomes either an integer, numeric (floating point) or
357scalar in perl, depending on its range and any fractional parts. On the 604string scalar in perl, depending on its range and any fractional parts. On
358Perl level, there is no difference between those as Perl handles all the 605the Perl level, there is no difference between those as Perl handles all
359conversion details, but an integer may take slightly less memory and might 606the conversion details, but an integer may take slightly less memory and
360represent more values exactly than (floating point) numbers. 607might represent more values exactly than (floating point) numbers.
608
609If the number consists of digits only, JSON::XS will try to represent
610it as an integer value. If that fails, it will try to represent it as
611a numeric (floating point) value if that is possible without loss of
612precision. Otherwise it will preserve the number as a string value.
613
614Numbers containing a fractional or exponential part will always be
615represented as numeric (floating point) values, possibly at a loss of
616precision.
617
618This might create round-tripping problems as numbers might become strings,
619but as Perl is typeless there is no other way to do it.
361 620
362=item true, false 621=item true, false
363 622
364These JSON atoms become C<0>, C<1>, respectively. Information is lost in 623These JSON atoms become C<JSON::XS::true> and C<JSON::XS::false>,
365this process. Future versions might represent those values differently, 624respectively. They are overloaded to act almost exactly like the numbers
366but they will be guarenteed to act like these integers would normally in 625C<1> and C<0>. You can check wether a scalar is a JSON boolean by using
367Perl. 626the C<JSON::XS::is_bool> function.
368 627
369=item null 628=item null
370 629
371A JSON null atom becomes C<undef> in Perl. 630A JSON null atom becomes C<undef> in Perl.
372 631
373=back 632=back
633
374 634
375=head2 PERL -> JSON 635=head2 PERL -> JSON
376 636
377The mapping from Perl to JSON is slightly more difficult, as Perl is a 637The mapping from Perl to JSON is slightly more difficult, as Perl is a
378truly typeless language, so we can only guess which JSON type is meant by 638truly typeless language, so we can only guess which JSON type is meant by
381=over 4 641=over 4
382 642
383=item hash references 643=item hash references
384 644
385Perl hash references become JSON objects. As there is no inherent ordering 645Perl hash references become JSON objects. As there is no inherent ordering
386in hash keys, they will usually be encoded in a pseudo-random order that 646in hash keys (or JSON objects), they will usually be encoded in a
387can change between runs of the same program but stays generally the same 647pseudo-random order that can change between runs of the same program but
388within a single run of a program. JSON::XS can optionally sort the hash 648stays generally the same within a single run of a program. JSON::XS can
389keys (determined by the I<canonical> flag), so the same datastructure 649optionally sort the hash keys (determined by the I<canonical> flag), so
390will serialise to the same JSON text (given same settings and version of 650the same datastructure will serialise to the same JSON text (given same
391JSON::XS), but this incurs a runtime overhead. 651settings and version of JSON::XS), but this incurs a runtime overhead
652and is only rarely useful, e.g. when you want to compare some JSON text
653against another for equality.
392 654
393=item array references 655=item array references
394 656
395Perl array references become JSON arrays. 657Perl array references become JSON arrays.
658
659=item other references
660
661Other unblessed references are generally not allowed and will cause an
662exception to be thrown, except for references to the integers C<0> and
663C<1>, which get turned into C<false> and C<true> atoms in JSON. You can
664also use C<JSON::XS::false> and C<JSON::XS::true> to improve readability.
665
666 to_json [\0,JSON::XS::true] # yields [false,true]
667
668=item JSON::XS::true, JSON::XS::false
669
670These special values become JSON true and JSON false values,
671respectively. You cna alos use C<\1> and C<\0> directly if you want.
396 672
397=item blessed objects 673=item blessed objects
398 674
399Blessed objects are not allowed. JSON::XS currently tries to encode their 675Blessed objects are not allowed. JSON::XS currently tries to encode their
400underlying representation (hash- or arrayref), but this behaviour might 676underlying representation (hash- or arrayref), but this behaviour might
433 $x *= 1; # same thing, the choise is yours. 709 $x *= 1; # same thing, the choise is yours.
434 710
435You can not currently output JSON booleans or force the type in other, 711You can not currently output JSON booleans or force the type in other,
436less obscure, ways. Tell me if you need this capability. 712less obscure, ways. Tell me if you need this capability.
437 713
438=item circular data structures
439
440Those will be encoded until memory or stackspace runs out.
441
442=back 714=back
715
443 716
444=head1 COMPARISON 717=head1 COMPARISON
445 718
446As already mentioned, this module was created because none of the existing 719As already mentioned, this module was created because none of the existing
447JSON modules could be made to work correctly. First I will describe the 720JSON modules could be made to work correctly. First I will describe the
525 798
526Does not check input for validity. 799Does not check input for validity.
527 800
528=back 801=back
529 802
803
804=head2 JSON and YAML
805
806You often hear that JSON is a subset (or a close subset) of YAML. This is,
807however, a mass hysteria and very far from the truth. In general, there is
808no way to configure JSON::XS to output a data structure as valid YAML.
809
810If you really must use JSON::XS to generate YAML, you should use this
811algorithm (subject to change in future versions):
812
813 my $to_yaml = JSON::XS->new->utf8->space_after (1);
814 my $yaml = $to_yaml->encode ($ref) . "\n";
815
816This will usually generate JSON texts that also parse as valid
817YAML. Please note that YAML has hardcoded limits on (simple) object key
818lengths that JSON doesn't have, so you should make sure that your hash
819keys are noticably shorter than the 1024 characters YAML allows.
820
821There might be other incompatibilities that I am not aware of. In general
822you should not try to generate YAML with a JSON generator or vice versa,
823or try to parse JSON with a YAML parser or vice versa: chances are high
824that you will run into severe interoperability problems.
825
826
530=head2 SPEED 827=head2 SPEED
531 828
532It seems that JSON::XS is surprisingly fast, as shown in the following 829It seems that JSON::XS is surprisingly fast, as shown in the following
533tables. They have been generated with the help of the C<eg/bench> program 830tables. They have been generated with the help of the C<eg/bench> program
534in the JSON::XS distribution, to make it easy to compare on your own 831in the JSON::XS distribution, to make it easy to compare on your own
535system. 832system.
536 833
537First comes a comparison between various modules using a very short JSON 834First comes a comparison between various modules using a very short
538string: 835single-line JSON string:
539 836
540 {"method": "handleMessage", "params": ["user1", "we were just talking"], "id": null} 837 {"method": "handleMessage", "params": ["user1", "we were just talking"], \
838 "id": null, "array":[1,11,234,-5,1e5,1e7, true, false]}
541 839
542It shows the number of encodes/decodes per second (JSON::XS uses the 840It shows the number of encodes/decodes per second (JSON::XS uses
543functional interface, while JSON::XS/2 uses the OO interface with 841the functional interface, while JSON::XS/2 uses the OO interface
544pretty-printing and hashkey sorting enabled). Higher is better: 842with pretty-printing and hashkey sorting enabled, JSON::XS/3 enables
843shrink). Higher is better:
545 844
845 Storable | 15779.925 | 14169.946 |
846 -----------+------------+------------+
546 module | encode | decode | 847 module | encode | decode |
547 -----------|------------|------------| 848 -----------|------------|------------|
548 JSON | 11488.516 | 7823.035 | 849 JSON | 4990.842 | 4088.813 |
549 JSON::DWIW | 94708.054 | 129094.260 | 850 JSON::DWIW | 51653.990 | 71575.154 |
550 JSON::PC | 63884.157 | 128528.212 | 851 JSON::PC | 65948.176 | 74631.744 |
551 JSON::Syck | 34898.677 | 42096.911 | 852 JSON::PP | 8931.652 | 3817.168 |
552 JSON::XS | 654027.064 | 396423.669 | 853 JSON::Syck | 24877.248 | 27776.848 |
553 JSON::XS/2 | 371564.190 | 371725.613 | 854 JSON::XS | 388361.481 | 227951.304 |
855 JSON::XS/2 | 227951.304 | 218453.333 |
856 JSON::XS/3 | 338250.323 | 218453.333 |
857 Storable | 16500.016 | 135300.129 |
554 -----------+------------+------------+ 858 -----------+------------+------------+
555 859
556That is, JSON::XS is more than six times faster than JSON::DWIW on 860That is, JSON::XS is about five times faster than JSON::DWIW on encoding,
557encoding, more than three times faster on decoding, and about thirty times 861about three times faster on decoding, and over fourty times faster
558faster than JSON, even with pretty-printing and key sorting. 862than JSON, even with pretty-printing and key sorting. It also compares
863favourably to Storable for small amounts of data.
559 864
560Using a longer test string (roughly 18KB, generated from Yahoo! Locals 865Using a longer test string (roughly 18KB, generated from Yahoo! Locals
561search API (http://nanoref.com/yahooapis/mgPdGg): 866search API (http://nanoref.com/yahooapis/mgPdGg):
562 867
563 module | encode | decode | 868 module | encode | decode |
564 -----------|------------|------------| 869 -----------|------------|------------|
565 JSON | 273.023 | 44.674 | 870 JSON | 55.260 | 34.971 |
566 JSON::DWIW | 1089.383 | 1145.704 | 871 JSON::DWIW | 825.228 | 1082.513 |
567 JSON::PC | 3097.419 | 2393.921 | 872 JSON::PC | 3571.444 | 2394.829 |
568 JSON::Syck | 514.060 | 843.053 | 873 JSON::PP | 210.987 | 32.574 |
569 JSON::XS | 6479.668 | 3636.364 | 874 JSON::Syck | 552.551 | 787.544 |
570 JSON::XS/2 | 3774.221 | 3599.124 | 875 JSON::XS | 5780.463 | 4854.519 |
876 JSON::XS/2 | 3869.998 | 4798.975 |
877 JSON::XS/3 | 5862.880 | 4798.975 |
878 Storable | 4445.002 | 5235.027 |
571 -----------+------------+------------+ 879 -----------+------------+------------+
572 880
573Again, JSON::XS leads by far. 881Again, JSON::XS leads by far (except for Storable which non-surprisingly
882decodes faster).
574 883
575On large strings containing lots of high unicode characters, some modules 884On large strings containing lots of high unicode characters, some modules
576(such as JSON::PC) seem to decode faster than JSON::XS, but the result 885(such as JSON::PC) seem to decode faster than JSON::XS, but the result
577will be broken due to missing (or wrong) unicode handling. Others refuse 886will be broken due to missing (or wrong) unicode handling. Others refuse
578to decode or encode properly, so it was impossible to prepare a fair 887to decode or encode properly, so it was impossible to prepare a fair
579comparison table for that case. 888comparison table for that case.
580 889
581=head1 RESOURCE LIMITS
582 890
583JSON::XS does not impose any limits on the size of JSON texts or Perl 891=head1 SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS
584values they represent - if your machine can handle it, JSON::XS will 892
585encode or decode it. Future versions might optionally impose structure 893When you are using JSON in a protocol, talking to untrusted potentially
586depth and memory use resource limits. 894hostile creatures requires relatively few measures.
895
896First of all, your JSON decoder should be secure, that is, should not have
897any buffer overflows. Obviously, this module should ensure that and I am
898trying hard on making that true, but you never know.
899
900Second, you need to avoid resource-starving attacks. That means you should
901limit the size of JSON texts you accept, or make sure then when your
902resources run out, thats just fine (e.g. by using a separate process that
903can crash safely). The size of a JSON text in octets or characters is
904usually a good indication of the size of the resources required to decode
905it into a Perl structure. While JSON::XS can check the size of the JSON
906text, it might be too late when you already have it in memory, so you
907might want to check the size before you accept the string.
908
909Third, JSON::XS recurses using the C stack when decoding objects and
910arrays. The C stack is a limited resource: for instance, on my amd64
911machine with 8MB of stack size I can decode around 180k nested arrays but
912only 14k nested JSON objects (due to perl itself recursing deeply on croak
913to free the temporary). If that is exceeded, the program crashes. to be
914conservative, the default nesting limit is set to 512. If your process
915has a smaller stack, you should adjust this setting accordingly with the
916C<max_depth> method.
917
918And last but least, something else could bomb you that I forgot to think
919of. In that case, you get to keep the pieces. I am always open for hints,
920though...
921
922If you are using JSON::XS to return packets to consumption
923by javascript scripts in a browser you should have a look at
924L<http://jpsykes.com/47/practical-csrf-and-json-security> to see wether
925you are vulnerable to some common attack vectors (which really are browser
926design bugs, but it is still you who will have to deal with it, as major
927browser developers care only for features, not about doing security
928right).
929
587 930
588=head1 BUGS 931=head1 BUGS
589 932
590While the goal of this module is to be correct, that unfortunately does 933While the goal of this module is to be correct, that unfortunately does
591not mean its bug-free, only that I think its design is bug-free. It is 934not mean its bug-free, only that I think its design is bug-free. It is
592still very young and not well-tested. If you keep reporting bugs they will 935still relatively early in its development. If you keep reporting bugs they
593be fixed swiftly, though. 936will be fixed swiftly, though.
594 937
595=cut 938=cut
939
940our $true = do { bless \(my $dummy = 1), "JSON::XS::Boolean" };
941our $false = do { bless \(my $dummy = 0), "JSON::XS::Boolean" };
942
943sub true() { $true }
944sub false() { $false }
945
946sub is_bool($) {
947 UNIVERSAL::isa $_[0], "JSON::XS::Boolean"
948# or UNIVERSAL::isa $_[0], "JSON::Literal"
949}
950
951XSLoader::load "JSON::XS", $VERSION;
952
953package JSON::XS::Boolean;
954
955use overload
956 "0+" => sub { ${$_[0]} },
957 "++" => sub { $_[0] = ${$_[0]} + 1 },
958 "--" => sub { $_[0] = ${$_[0]} - 1 },
959 fallback => 1;
596 960
5971; 9611;
598 962
599=head1 AUTHOR 963=head1 AUTHOR
600 964

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