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Revision 1.80 by root, Sat Dec 29 17:22:39 2007 UTC vs.
Revision 1.94 by root, Tue Mar 25 07:46:15 2008 UTC

1=head1 NAME 1=head1 NAME
2
3=encoding utf-8
2 4
3JSON::XS - JSON serialising/deserialising, done correctly and fast 5JSON::XS - JSON serialising/deserialising, done correctly and fast
4 6
5JSON::XS - 正しくて高速な JSON シリアライザ/デシリアライザ 7JSON::XS - 正しくて高速な JSON シリアライザ/デシリアライザ
6 (http://fleur.hio.jp/perldoc/mix/lib/JSON/XS.html) 8 (http://fleur.hio.jp/perldoc/mix/lib/JSON/XS.html)
58 60
59=over 4 61=over 4
60 62
61=item * correct Unicode handling 63=item * correct Unicode handling
62 64
63This module knows how to handle Unicode, and even documents how and when 65This module knows how to handle Unicode, documents how and when it does
64it does so. 66so, and even documents what "correct" means.
65 67
66=item * round-trip integrity 68=item * round-trip integrity
67 69
68When you serialise a perl data structure using only datatypes supported 70When you serialise a perl data structure using only datatypes supported
69by JSON, the deserialised data structure is identical on the Perl level. 71by JSON, the deserialised data structure is identical on the Perl level.
70(e.g. the string "2.0" doesn't suddenly become "2" just because it looks 72(e.g. the string "2.0" doesn't suddenly become "2" just because it looks
71like a number). 73like a number). There minor I<are> exceptions to this, read the MAPPING
74section below to learn about those.
72 75
73=item * strict checking of JSON correctness 76=item * strict checking of JSON correctness
74 77
75There is no guessing, no generating of illegal JSON texts by default, 78There is no guessing, no generating of illegal JSON texts by default,
76and only JSON is accepted as input by default (the latter is a security 79and only JSON is accepted as input by default (the latter is a security
77feature). 80feature).
78 81
79=item * fast 82=item * fast
80 83
81Compared to other JSON modules, this module compares favourably in terms 84Compared to other JSON modules and other serialisers such as Storable,
82of speed, too. 85this module usually compares favourably in terms of speed, too.
83 86
84=item * simple to use 87=item * simple to use
85 88
86This module has both a simple functional interface as well as an OO 89This module has both a simple functional interface as well as an objetc
87interface. 90oriented interface interface.
88 91
89=item * reasonably versatile output formats 92=item * reasonably versatile output formats
90 93
91You can choose between the most compact guaranteed single-line format 94You can choose between the most compact guaranteed-single-line format
92possible (nice for simple line-based protocols), a pure-ascii format 95possible (nice for simple line-based protocols), a pure-ascii format
93(for when your transport is not 8-bit clean, still supports the whole 96(for when your transport is not 8-bit clean, still supports the whole
94Unicode range), or a pretty-printed format (for when you want to read that 97Unicode range), or a pretty-printed format (for when you want to read that
95stuff). Or you can combine those features in whatever way you like. 98stuff). Or you can combine those features in whatever way you like.
96 99
100 103
101package JSON::XS; 104package JSON::XS;
102 105
103use strict; 106use strict;
104 107
105our $VERSION = '2.01'; 108our $VERSION = '2.1';
106our @ISA = qw(Exporter); 109our @ISA = qw(Exporter);
107 110
108our @EXPORT = qw(encode_json decode_json to_json from_json); 111our @EXPORT = qw(encode_json decode_json to_json from_json);
109 112
110sub to_json($) { 113sub to_json($) {
174This enables you to store Unicode characters as single characters in a 177This enables you to store Unicode characters as single characters in a
175Perl string - very natural. 178Perl string - very natural.
176 179
177=item 2. Perl does I<not> associate an encoding with your strings. 180=item 2. Perl does I<not> associate an encoding with your strings.
178 181
179Unless you force it to, e.g. when matching it against a regex, or printing 182... until you force it to, e.g. when matching it against a regex, or
180the scalar to a file, in which case Perl either interprets your string as 183printing the scalar to a file, in which case Perl either interprets your
181locale-encoded text, octets/binary, or as Unicode, depending on various 184string as locale-encoded text, octets/binary, or as Unicode, depending
182settings. In no case is an encoding stored together with your data, it is 185on various settings. In no case is an encoding stored together with your
183I<use> that decides encoding, not any magical metadata. 186data, it is I<use> that decides encoding, not any magical meta data.
184 187
185=item 3. The internal utf-8 flag has no meaning with regards to the 188=item 3. The internal utf-8 flag has no meaning with regards to the
186encoding of your string. 189encoding of your string.
187 190
188Just ignore that flag unless you debug a Perl bug, a module written in 191Just ignore that flag unless you debug a Perl bug, a module written in
242 245
243If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will not escape Unicode 246If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will not escape Unicode
244characters unless required by the JSON syntax or other flags. This results 247characters unless required by the JSON syntax or other flags. This results
245in a faster and more compact format. 248in a faster and more compact format.
246 249
250See also the section I<ENCODING/CODESET FLAG NOTES> later in this
251document.
252
247The main use for this flag is to produce JSON texts that can be 253The main use for this flag is to produce JSON texts that can be
248transmitted over a 7-bit channel, as the encoded JSON texts will not 254transmitted over a 7-bit channel, as the encoded JSON texts will not
249contain any 8 bit characters. 255contain any 8 bit characters.
250 256
251 JSON::XS->new->ascii (1)->encode ([chr 0x10401]) 257 JSON::XS->new->ascii (1)->encode ([chr 0x10401])
262will not be affected in any way by this flag, as C<decode> by default 268will not be affected in any way by this flag, as C<decode> by default
263expects Unicode, which is a strict superset of latin1. 269expects Unicode, which is a strict superset of latin1.
264 270
265If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will not escape Unicode 271If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will not escape Unicode
266characters unless required by the JSON syntax or other flags. 272characters unless required by the JSON syntax or other flags.
273
274See also the section I<ENCODING/CODESET FLAG NOTES> later in this
275document.
267 276
268The main use for this flag is efficiently encoding binary data as JSON 277The main use for this flag is efficiently encoding binary data as JSON
269text, as most octets will not be escaped, resulting in a smaller encoded 278text, as most octets will not be escaped, resulting in a smaller encoded
270size. The disadvantage is that the resulting JSON text is encoded 279size. The disadvantage is that the resulting JSON text is encoded
271in latin1 (and must correctly be treated as such when storing and 280in latin1 (and must correctly be treated as such when storing and
290 299
291If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will return the JSON 300If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will return the JSON
292string as a (non-encoded) Unicode string, while C<decode> expects thus a 301string as a (non-encoded) Unicode string, while C<decode> expects thus a
293Unicode string. Any decoding or encoding (e.g. to UTF-8 or UTF-16) needs 302Unicode string. Any decoding or encoding (e.g. to UTF-8 or UTF-16) needs
294to be done yourself, e.g. using the Encode module. 303to be done yourself, e.g. using the Encode module.
304
305See also the section I<ENCODING/CODESET FLAG NOTES> later in this
306document.
295 307
296Example, output UTF-16BE-encoded JSON: 308Example, output UTF-16BE-encoded JSON:
297 309
298 use Encode; 310 use Encode;
299 $jsontext = encode "UTF-16BE", JSON::XS->new->encode ($object); 311 $jsontext = encode "UTF-16BE", JSON::XS->new->encode ($object);
669 => ([], 3) 681 => ([], 3)
670 682
671=back 683=back
672 684
673 685
686=head1 INCREMENTAL PARSING
687
688[This section is still EXPERIMENTAL]
689
690In some cases, there is the need for incremental parsing of JSON
691texts. While this module always has to keep both JSON text and resulting
692Perl data structure in memory at one time, it does allow you to parse a
693JSON stream incrementally. It does so by accumulating text until it has
694a full JSON object, which it then can decode. This process is similar to
695using C<decode_prefix> to see if a full JSON object is available, but is
696much more efficient (JSON::XS will only attempt to parse the JSON text
697once it is sure it has enough text to get a decisive result, using a very
698simple but truly incremental parser).
699
700The following two methods deal with this.
701
702=over 4
703
704=item [void, scalar or list context] = $json->incr_parse ([$string])
705
706This is the central parsing function. It can both append new text and
707extract objects from the stream accumulated so far (both of these
708functions are optional).
709
710If C<$string> is given, then this string is appended to the already
711existing JSON fragment stored in the C<$json> object.
712
713After that, if the function is called in void context, it will simply
714return without doing anything further. This can be used to add more text
715in as many chunks as you want.
716
717If the method is called in scalar context, then it will try to extract
718exactly I<one> JSON object. If that is successful, it will return this
719object, otherwise it will return C<undef>. This is the most common way of
720using the method.
721
722And finally, in list context, it will try to extract as many objects
723from the stream as it can find and return them, or the empty list
724otherwise. For this to work, there must be no separators between the JSON
725objects or arrays, instead they must be concatenated back-to-back.
726
727=item $lvalue_string = $json->incr_text
728
729This method returns the currently stored JSON fragment as an lvalue, that
730is, you can manipulate it. This I<only> works when a preceding call to
731C<incr_parse> in I<scalar context> successfully returned an object. Under
732all other circumstances you must not call this function (I mean it.
733although in simple tests it might actually work, it I<will> fail under
734real world conditions). As a special exception, you can also call this
735method before having parsed anything.
736
737This function is useful in two cases: a) finding the trailing text after a
738JSON object or b) parsing multiple JSON objects separated by non-JSON text
739(such as commas).
740
741=back
742
743=head2 LIMITATIONS
744
745All options that affect decoding are supported, except
746C<allow_nonref>. The reason for this is that it cannot be made to
747work sensibly: JSON objects and arrays are self-delimited, i.e. you can concatenate
748them back to back and still decode them perfectly. This does not hold true
749for JSON numbers, however.
750
751For example, is the string C<1> a single JSON number, or is it simply the
752start of C<12>? Or is C<12> a single JSON number, or the concatenation
753of C<1> and C<2>? In neither case you can tell, and this is why JSON::XS
754takes the conservative route and disallows this case.
755
756=head2 EXAMPLES
757
758Some examples will make all this clearer. First, a simple example that
759works similarly to C<decode_prefix>: We want to decode the JSON object at
760the start of a string and identify the portion after the JSON object:
761
762 my $text = "[1,2,3] hello";
763
764 my $json = new JSON::XS;
765
766 my $obj = $json->incr_parse ($text)
767 or die "expected JSON object or array at beginning of string";
768
769 my $tail = $json->incr_text;
770 # $tail now contains " hello"
771
772Easy, isn't it?
773
774Now for a more complicated example: Imagine a hypothetical protocol where
775you read some requests from a TCP stream, and each request is a JSON
776array, without any separation between them (in fact, it is often useful to
777use newlines as "separators", as these get interpreted as whitespace at
778the start of the JSON text, which makes it possible to test said protocol
779with C<telnet>...).
780
781Here is how you'd do it (it is trivial to write this in an event-based
782manner):
783
784 my $json = new JSON::XS;
785
786 # read some data from the socket
787 while (sysread $socket, my $buf, 4096) {
788
789 # split and decode as many requests as possible
790 for my $request ($json->incr_parse ($buf)) {
791 # act on the $request
792 }
793 }
794
795Another complicated example: Assume you have a string with JSON objects
796or arrays, all separated by (optional) comma characters (e.g. C<[1],[2],
797[3]>). To parse them, we have to skip the commas between the JSON texts,
798and here is where the lvalue-ness of C<incr_text> comes in useful:
799
800 my $text = "[1],[2], [3]";
801 my $json = new JSON::XS;
802
803 # void context, so no parsing done
804 $json->incr_parse ($text);
805
806 # now extract as many objects as possible. note the
807 # use of scalar context so incr_text can be called.
808 while (my $obj = $json->incr_parse) {
809 # do something with $obj
810
811 # now skip the optional comma
812 $json->incr_text =~ s/^ \s* , //x;
813 }
814
815Now lets go for a very complex example: Assume that you have a gigantic
816JSON array-of-objects, many gigabytes in size, and you want to parse it,
817but you cannot load it into memory fully (this has actually happened in
818the real world :).
819
820Well, you lost, you have to implement your own JSON parser. But JSON::XS
821can still help you: You implement a (very simple) array parser and let
822JSON decode the array elements, which are all full JSON objects on their
823own (this wouldn't work if the array elements could be JSON numbers, for
824example):
825
826 my $json = new JSON::XS;
827
828 # open the monster
829 open my $fh, "<bigfile.json"
830 or die "bigfile: $!";
831
832 # first parse the initial "["
833 for (;;) {
834 sysread $fh, my $buf, 65536
835 or die "read error: $!";
836 $json->incr_parse ($buf); # void context, so no parsing
837
838 # Exit the loop once we found and removed(!) the initial "[".
839 # In essence, we are (ab-)using the $json object as a simple scalar
840 # we append data to.
841 last if $json->incr_text =~ s/^ \s* \[ //x;
842 }
843
844 # now we have the skipped the initial "[", so continue
845 # parsing all the elements.
846 for (;;) {
847 # in this loop we read data until we got a single JSON object
848 for (;;) {
849 if (my $obj = $json->incr_parse) {
850 # do something with $obj
851 last;
852 }
853
854 # add more data
855 sysread $fh, my $buf, 65536
856 or die "read error: $!";
857 $json->incr_parse ($buf); # void context, so no parsing
858 }
859
860 # in this loop we read data until we either found and parsed the
861 # separating "," between elements, or the final "]"
862 for (;;) {
863 # first skip whitespace
864 $json->incr_text =~ s/^\s*//;
865
866 # if we find "]", we are done
867 if ($json->incr_text =~ s/^\]//) {
868 print "finished.\n";
869 exit;
870 }
871
872 # if we find ",", we can continue with the next element
873 if ($json->incr_text =~ s/^,//) {
874 last;
875 }
876
877 # if we find anything else, we have a parse error!
878 if (length $json->incr_text) {
879 die "parse error near ", $json->incr_text;
880 }
881
882 # else add more data
883 sysread $fh, my $buf, 65536
884 or die "read error: $!";
885 $json->incr_parse ($buf); # void context, so no parsing
886 }
887
888This is a complex example, but most of the complexity comes from the fact
889that we are trying to be correct (bear with me if I am wrong, I never ran
890the above example :).
891
892
893
674=head1 MAPPING 894=head1 MAPPING
675 895
676This section describes how JSON::XS maps Perl values to JSON values and 896This section describes how JSON::XS maps Perl values to JSON values and
677vice versa. These mappings are designed to "do the right thing" in most 897vice versa. These mappings are designed to "do the right thing" in most
678circumstances automatically, preserving round-tripping characteristics 898circumstances automatically, preserving round-tripping characteristics
706 926
707A JSON number becomes either an integer, numeric (floating point) or 927A JSON number becomes either an integer, numeric (floating point) or
708string scalar in perl, depending on its range and any fractional parts. On 928string scalar in perl, depending on its range and any fractional parts. On
709the Perl level, there is no difference between those as Perl handles all 929the Perl level, there is no difference between those as Perl handles all
710the conversion details, but an integer may take slightly less memory and 930the conversion details, but an integer may take slightly less memory and
711might represent more values exactly than (floating point) numbers. 931might represent more values exactly than floating point numbers.
712 932
713If the number consists of digits only, JSON::XS will try to represent 933If the number consists of digits only, JSON::XS will try to represent
714it as an integer value. If that fails, it will try to represent it as 934it as an integer value. If that fails, it will try to represent it as
715a numeric (floating point) value if that is possible without loss of 935a numeric (floating point) value if that is possible without loss of
716precision. Otherwise it will preserve the number as a string value. 936precision. Otherwise it will preserve the number as a string value (in
937which case you lose roundtripping ability, as the JSON number will be
938re-encoded toa JSON string).
717 939
718Numbers containing a fractional or exponential part will always be 940Numbers containing a fractional or exponential part will always be
719represented as numeric (floating point) values, possibly at a loss of 941represented as numeric (floating point) values, possibly at a loss of
720precision. 942precision (in which case you might lose perfect roundtripping ability, but
721 943the JSON number will still be re-encoded as a JSON number).
722This might create round-tripping problems as numbers might become strings,
723but as Perl is typeless there is no other way to do it.
724 944
725=item true, false 945=item true, false
726 946
727These JSON atoms become C<JSON::XS::true> and C<JSON::XS::false>, 947These JSON atoms become C<JSON::XS::true> and C<JSON::XS::false>,
728respectively. They are overloaded to act almost exactly like the numbers 948respectively. They are overloaded to act almost exactly like the numbers
774These special values become JSON true and JSON false values, 994These special values become JSON true and JSON false values,
775respectively. You can also use C<\1> and C<\0> directly if you want. 995respectively. You can also use C<\1> and C<\0> directly if you want.
776 996
777=item blessed objects 997=item blessed objects
778 998
779Blessed objects are not allowed. JSON::XS currently tries to encode their 999Blessed objects are not directly representable in JSON. See the
780underlying representation (hash- or arrayref), but this behaviour might 1000C<allow_blessed> and C<convert_blessed> methods on various options on
781change in future versions. 1001how to deal with this: basically, you can choose between throwing an
1002exception, encoding the reference as if it weren't blessed, or provide
1003your own serialiser method.
782 1004
783=item simple scalars 1005=item simple scalars
784 1006
785Simple Perl scalars (any scalar that is not a reference) are the most 1007Simple Perl scalars (any scalar that is not a reference) are the most
786difficult objects to encode: JSON::XS will encode undefined scalars as 1008difficult objects to encode: JSON::XS will encode undefined scalars as
787JSON null value, scalars that have last been used in a string context 1009JSON C<null> values, scalars that have last been used in a string context
788before encoding as JSON strings and anything else as number value: 1010before encoding as JSON strings, and anything else as number value:
789 1011
790 # dump as number 1012 # dump as number
791 encode_json [2] # yields [2] 1013 encode_json [2] # yields [2]
792 encode_json [-3.0e17] # yields [-3e+17] 1014 encode_json [-3.0e17] # yields [-3e+17]
793 my $value = 5; encode_json [$value] # yields [5] 1015 my $value = 5; encode_json [$value] # yields [5]
811 my $x = "3"; # some variable containing a string 1033 my $x = "3"; # some variable containing a string
812 $x += 0; # numify it, ensuring it will be dumped as a number 1034 $x += 0; # numify it, ensuring it will be dumped as a number
813 $x *= 1; # same thing, the choice is yours. 1035 $x *= 1; # same thing, the choice is yours.
814 1036
815You can not currently force the type in other, less obscure, ways. Tell me 1037You can not currently force the type in other, less obscure, ways. Tell me
816if you need this capability. 1038if you need this capability (but don't forget to explain why it's needed
1039:).
1040
1041=back
1042
1043
1044=head1 ENCODING/CODESET FLAG NOTES
1045
1046The interested reader might have seen a number of flags that signify
1047encodings or codesets - C<utf8>, C<latin1> and C<ascii>. There seems to be
1048some confusion on what these do, so here is a short comparison:
1049
1050C<utf8> controls whether the JSON text created by C<encode> (and expected
1051by C<decode>) is UTF-8 encoded or not, while C<latin1> and C<ascii> only
1052control whether C<encode> escapes character values outside their respective
1053codeset range. Neither of these flags conflict with each other, although
1054some combinations make less sense than others.
1055
1056Care has been taken to make all flags symmetrical with respect to
1057C<encode> and C<decode>, that is, texts encoded with any combination of
1058these flag values will be correctly decoded when the same flags are used
1059- in general, if you use different flag settings while encoding vs. when
1060decoding you likely have a bug somewhere.
1061
1062Below comes a verbose discussion of these flags. Note that a "codeset" is
1063simply an abstract set of character-codepoint pairs, while an encoding
1064takes those codepoint numbers and I<encodes> them, in our case into
1065octets. Unicode is (among other things) a codeset, UTF-8 is an encoding,
1066and ISO-8859-1 (= latin 1) and ASCII are both codesets I<and> encodings at
1067the same time, which can be confusing.
1068
1069=over 4
1070
1071=item C<utf8> flag disabled
1072
1073When C<utf8> is disabled (the default), then C<encode>/C<decode> generate
1074and expect Unicode strings, that is, characters with high ordinal Unicode
1075values (> 255) will be encoded as such characters, and likewise such
1076characters are decoded as-is, no canges to them will be done, except
1077"(re-)interpreting" them as Unicode codepoints or Unicode characters,
1078respectively (to Perl, these are the same thing in strings unless you do
1079funny/weird/dumb stuff).
1080
1081This is useful when you want to do the encoding yourself (e.g. when you
1082want to have UTF-16 encoded JSON texts) or when some other layer does
1083the encoding for you (for example, when printing to a terminal using a
1084filehandle that transparently encodes to UTF-8 you certainly do NOT want
1085to UTF-8 encode your data first and have Perl encode it another time).
1086
1087=item C<utf8> flag enabled
1088
1089If the C<utf8>-flag is enabled, C<encode>/C<decode> will encode all
1090characters using the corresponding UTF-8 multi-byte sequence, and will
1091expect your input strings to be encoded as UTF-8, that is, no "character"
1092of the input string must have any value > 255, as UTF-8 does not allow
1093that.
1094
1095The C<utf8> flag therefore switches between two modes: disabled means you
1096will get a Unicode string in Perl, enabled means you get an UTF-8 encoded
1097octet/binary string in Perl.
1098
1099=item C<latin1> or C<ascii> flags enabled
1100
1101With C<latin1> (or C<ascii>) enabled, C<encode> will escape characters
1102with ordinal values > 255 (> 127 with C<ascii>) and encode the remaining
1103characters as specified by the C<utf8> flag.
1104
1105If C<utf8> is disabled, then the result is also correctly encoded in those
1106character sets (as both are proper subsets of Unicode, meaning that a
1107Unicode string with all character values < 256 is the same thing as a
1108ISO-8859-1 string, and a Unicode string with all character values < 128 is
1109the same thing as an ASCII string in Perl).
1110
1111If C<utf8> is enabled, you still get a correct UTF-8-encoded string,
1112regardless of these flags, just some more characters will be escaped using
1113C<\uXXXX> then before.
1114
1115Note that ISO-8859-1-I<encoded> strings are not compatible with UTF-8
1116encoding, while ASCII-encoded strings are. That is because the ISO-8859-1
1117encoding is NOT a subset of UTF-8 (despite the ISO-8859-1 I<codeset> being
1118a subset of Unicode), while ASCII is.
1119
1120Surprisingly, C<decode> will ignore these flags and so treat all input
1121values as governed by the C<utf8> flag. If it is disabled, this allows you
1122to decode ISO-8859-1- and ASCII-encoded strings, as both strict subsets of
1123Unicode. If it is enabled, you can correctly decode UTF-8 encoded strings.
1124
1125So neither C<latin1> nor C<ascii> are incompatible with the C<utf8> flag -
1126they only govern when the JSON output engine escapes a character or not.
1127
1128The main use for C<latin1> is to relatively efficiently store binary data
1129as JSON, at the expense of breaking compatibility with most JSON decoders.
1130
1131The main use for C<ascii> is to force the output to not contain characters
1132with values > 127, which means you can interpret the resulting string
1133as UTF-8, ISO-8859-1, ASCII, KOI8-R or most about any character set and
11348-bit-encoding, and still get the same data structure back. This is useful
1135when your channel for JSON transfer is not 8-bit clean or the encoding
1136might be mangled in between (e.g. in mail), and works because ASCII is a
1137proper subset of most 8-bit and multibyte encodings in use in the world.
817 1138
818=back 1139=back
819 1140
820 1141
821=head1 COMPARISON 1142=head1 COMPARISON
825problems (or pleasures) I encountered with various existing JSON modules, 1146problems (or pleasures) I encountered with various existing JSON modules,
826followed by some benchmark values. JSON::XS was designed not to suffer 1147followed by some benchmark values. JSON::XS was designed not to suffer
827from any of these problems or limitations. 1148from any of these problems or limitations.
828 1149
829=over 4 1150=over 4
1151
1152=item JSON 2.xx
1153
1154A marvellous piece of engineering, this module either uses JSON::XS
1155directly when available (so will be 100% compatible with it, including
1156speed), or it uses JSON::PP, which is basically JSON::XS translated to
1157Pure Perl, which should be 100% compatible with JSON::XS, just a bit
1158slower.
1159
1160You cannot really lose by using this module, especially as it tries very
1161hard to work even with ancient Perl versions, while JSON::XS does not.
830 1162
831=item JSON 1.07 1163=item JSON 1.07
832 1164
833Slow (but very portable, as it is written in pure Perl). 1165Slow (but very portable, as it is written in pure Perl).
834 1166
906 1238
907 1239
908=head2 JSON and YAML 1240=head2 JSON and YAML
909 1241
910You often hear that JSON is a subset of YAML. This is, however, a mass 1242You often hear that JSON is a subset of YAML. This is, however, a mass
911hysteria and very far from the truth. In general, there is no way to 1243hysteria(*) and very far from the truth (as of the time of this writing),
1244so let me state it clearly: I<in general, there is no way to configure
912configure JSON::XS to output a data structure as valid YAML that works for 1245JSON::XS to output a data structure as valid YAML> that works in all
913all cases. 1246cases.
914 1247
915If you really must use JSON::XS to generate YAML, you should use this 1248If you really must use JSON::XS to generate YAML, you should use this
916algorithm (subject to change in future versions): 1249algorithm (subject to change in future versions):
917 1250
918 my $to_yaml = JSON::XS->new->utf8->space_after (1); 1251 my $to_yaml = JSON::XS->new->utf8->space_after (1);
919 my $yaml = $to_yaml->encode ($ref) . "\n"; 1252 my $yaml = $to_yaml->encode ($ref) . "\n";
920 1253
921This will usually generate JSON texts that also parse as valid 1254This will I<usually> generate JSON texts that also parse as valid
922YAML. Please note that YAML has hardcoded limits on (simple) object key 1255YAML. Please note that YAML has hardcoded limits on (simple) object key
923lengths that JSON doesn't have and also has different and incompatible 1256lengths that JSON doesn't have and also has different and incompatible
924unicode handling, so you should make sure that your hash keys are 1257unicode handling, so you should make sure that your hash keys are
925noticeably shorter than the 1024 "stream characters" YAML allows and that 1258noticeably shorter than the 1024 "stream characters" YAML allows and that
926you do not have codepoints with values outside the Unicode BMP (basic 1259you do not have characters with codepoint values outside the Unicode BMP
927multilingual page). 1260(basic multilingual page). YAML also does not allow C<\/> sequences in
1261strings (which JSON::XS does not I<currently> generate, but other JSON
1262generators might).
928 1263
929There might be other incompatibilities that I am not aware of. In general 1264There might be other incompatibilities that I am not aware of (or the YAML
1265specification has been changed yet again - it does so quite often). In
930you should not try to generate YAML with a JSON generator or vice versa, 1266general you should not try to generate YAML with a JSON generator or vice
931or try to parse JSON with a YAML parser or vice versa: chances are high 1267versa, or try to parse JSON with a YAML parser or vice versa: chances are
932that you will run into severe interoperability problems when you least 1268high that you will run into severe interoperability problems when you
933expect it. 1269least expect it.
1270
1271=over 4
1272
1273=item (*)
1274
1275I have been pressured multiple times by Brian Ingerson (one of the
1276authors of the YAML specification) to remove this paragraph, despite him
1277acknowledging that the actual incompatibilities exist. As I was personally
1278bitten by this "JSON is YAML" lie, I refused and said I will continue to
1279educate people about these issues, so others do not run into the same
1280problem again and again. After this, Brian called me a (quote)I<complete
1281and worthless idiot>(unquote).
1282
1283In my opinion, instead of pressuring and insulting people who actually
1284clarify issues with YAML and the wrong statements of some of its
1285proponents, I would kindly suggest reading the JSON spec (which is not
1286that difficult or long) and finally make YAML compatible to it, and
1287educating users about the changes, instead of spreading lies about the
1288real compatibility for many I<years> and trying to silence people who
1289point out that it isn't true.
1290
1291=back
934 1292
935 1293
936=head2 SPEED 1294=head2 SPEED
937 1295
938It seems that JSON::XS is surprisingly fast, as shown in the following 1296It seems that JSON::XS is surprisingly fast, as shown in the following
939tables. They have been generated with the help of the C<eg/bench> program 1297tables. They have been generated with the help of the C<eg/bench> program
940in the JSON::XS distribution, to make it easy to compare on your own 1298in the JSON::XS distribution, to make it easy to compare on your own
941system. 1299system.
942 1300
943First comes a comparison between various modules using a very short 1301First comes a comparison between various modules using
944single-line JSON string: 1302a very short single-line JSON string (also available at
1303L<http://dist.schmorp.de/misc/json/short.json>).
945 1304
946 {"method": "handleMessage", "params": ["user1", "we were just talking"], \ 1305 {"method": "handleMessage", "params": ["user1", "we were just talking"], \
947 "id": null, "array":[1,11,234,-5,1e5,1e7, true, false]} 1306 "id": null, "array":[1,11,234,-5,1e5,1e7, true, false]}
948 1307
949It shows the number of encodes/decodes per second (JSON::XS uses 1308It shows the number of encodes/decodes per second (JSON::XS uses
968about three times faster on decoding, and over forty times faster 1327about three times faster on decoding, and over forty times faster
969than JSON, even with pretty-printing and key sorting. It also compares 1328than JSON, even with pretty-printing and key sorting. It also compares
970favourably to Storable for small amounts of data. 1329favourably to Storable for small amounts of data.
971 1330
972Using a longer test string (roughly 18KB, generated from Yahoo! Locals 1331Using a longer test string (roughly 18KB, generated from Yahoo! Locals
973search API (http://nanoref.com/yahooapis/mgPdGg): 1332search API (L<http://dist.schmorp.de/misc/json/long.json>).
974 1333
975 module | encode | decode | 1334 module | encode | decode |
976 -----------|------------|------------| 1335 -----------|------------|------------|
977 JSON 1.x | 55.260 | 34.971 | 1336 JSON 1.x | 55.260 | 34.971 |
978 JSON::DWIW | 825.228 | 1082.513 | 1337 JSON::DWIW | 825.228 | 1082.513 |
1020to free the temporary). If that is exceeded, the program crashes. To be 1379to free the temporary). If that is exceeded, the program crashes. To be
1021conservative, the default nesting limit is set to 512. If your process 1380conservative, the default nesting limit is set to 512. If your process
1022has a smaller stack, you should adjust this setting accordingly with the 1381has a smaller stack, you should adjust this setting accordingly with the
1023C<max_depth> method. 1382C<max_depth> method.
1024 1383
1025And last but least, something else could bomb you that I forgot to think 1384Something else could bomb you, too, that I forgot to think of. In that
1026of. In that case, you get to keep the pieces. I am always open for hints, 1385case, you get to keep the pieces. I am always open for hints, though...
1027though... 1386
1387Also keep in mind that JSON::XS might leak contents of your Perl data
1388structures in its error messages, so when you serialise sensitive
1389information you might want to make sure that exceptions thrown by JSON::XS
1390will not end up in front of untrusted eyes.
1028 1391
1029If you are using JSON::XS to return packets to consumption 1392If you are using JSON::XS to return packets to consumption
1030by JavaScript scripts in a browser you should have a look at 1393by JavaScript scripts in a browser you should have a look at
1031L<http://jpsykes.com/47/practical-csrf-and-json-security> to see whether 1394L<http://jpsykes.com/47/practical-csrf-and-json-security> to see whether
1032you are vulnerable to some common attack vectors (which really are browser 1395you are vulnerable to some common attack vectors (which really are browser
1038=head1 THREADS 1401=head1 THREADS
1039 1402
1040This module is I<not> guaranteed to be thread safe and there are no 1403This module is I<not> guaranteed to be thread safe and there are no
1041plans to change this until Perl gets thread support (as opposed to the 1404plans to change this until Perl gets thread support (as opposed to the
1042horribly slow so-called "threads" which are simply slow and bloated 1405horribly slow so-called "threads" which are simply slow and bloated
1043process simulations - use fork, its I<much> faster, cheaper, better). 1406process simulations - use fork, it's I<much> faster, cheaper, better).
1044 1407
1045(It might actually work, but you have been warned). 1408(It might actually work, but you have been warned).
1046 1409
1047 1410
1048=head1 BUGS 1411=head1 BUGS
1049 1412
1050While the goal of this module is to be correct, that unfortunately does 1413While the goal of this module is to be correct, that unfortunately does
1051not mean its bug-free, only that I think its design is bug-free. It is 1414not mean it's bug-free, only that I think its design is bug-free. It is
1052still relatively early in its development. If you keep reporting bugs they 1415still relatively early in its development. If you keep reporting bugs they
1053will be fixed swiftly, though. 1416will be fixed swiftly, though.
1054 1417
1055Please refrain from using rt.cpan.org or any other bug reporting 1418Please refrain from using rt.cpan.org or any other bug reporting
1056service. I put the contact address into my modules for a reason. 1419service. I put the contact address into my modules for a reason.
1078 "--" => sub { $_[0] = ${$_[0]} - 1 }, 1441 "--" => sub { $_[0] = ${$_[0]} - 1 },
1079 fallback => 1; 1442 fallback => 1;
1080 1443
10811; 14441;
1082 1445
1446=head1 SEE ALSO
1447
1448The F<json_xs> command line utility for quick experiments.
1449
1083=head1 AUTHOR 1450=head1 AUTHOR
1084 1451
1085 Marc Lehmann <schmorp@schmorp.de> 1452 Marc Lehmann <schmorp@schmorp.de>
1086 http://home.schmorp.de/ 1453 http://home.schmorp.de/
1087 1454

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