JSON tools you don’t want to miss

JSON, for JavaScript Object Notation, is a popular and lightweight data interchange format that has become ubiquitous on the web. JSON is known for being both easy for developers to use and easy for machines to parse and generate.

Not surprisingly, JSON has attracted the attention of tool builders, which have created a variety of tools for reformatting, validating, and parsing JSON. These range from online utilities you run in your web browser to plug-ins for code editors and IDEs such as Visual Studio Code and Eclipse.

Following is a select list of nine of these tools.

JSONLint

JSONLint, from CircleCell, is an online validator and reformatter for JSON. Developers can paste or type JSON into the editor or input a URL. JSONLint can validate “messy” JSON code and it can also parse. JSONLint also can be used as a JSON compressor if users add ?reformat=compress to the URL.

Where to access JSONLint

You can access JSONLint on the web. Source code for the tool can be found on GitHub.

JSONCompare

The advanced version of JSONLint, JSONCompare, directly validates JSON code. It can upload and validate multiple batch JSON files simultaneously and compare and merge two JSON objects. JSONCompare has simple, batch, and diff modes. Like JSONLint, JSONCompare was built by CircleCell.

Where to access JSONCompare

You can find JSONCompare online. Source code is available on GitHub.

jtc

Short for “JSON test console,” jtc is a CLI tool to extract, manipulate, and transform source JSON. Developers can use jtc to select one or multiple elements from source JSON and apply actions on these elements at once, such as wrapping selected elements into a new JSON, filter in and out, or update elements. The user interface allows for applying a bulk of changes using a single command. Linux and MacOS compiled binaries are available for download.

Where to download jtc

You can download jtc from GitHub.

ijson

Originally developed in 2016, ijson is an iterative JSON parser with a standard Python iterator interface. The most-common usage is having ijson yield native Python objects from a JSON stream that is under a prefix. ijson offers several implementations of the actual parsing in the form of C-based YAJL (Yet Another JSON Library) or Python back-ends.

Where to download ijson

You can download ijson from the PyPI.

JSON Formatter and Validator

JSON Formatter and Validator is an online tool that was developed to format and beautify JSON to make it easier to read and debug. Because JSON can be output without line breaks (to save space), it can be difficult to read and understand. Developers using the online formatter can just paste in JSON or a URL. The JSON Formatter and Validator Bookmarklet can be used to format and validate a public JSON URL.

Where to access JSON Formatter and Validator

You can access JSON Formatter and Validator online.

Altova XMLSpy JSON and XML Editor

Altova XMLSpy is a JSON and XML editor, providing all kinds of tools for editing, modeling, transforming, and debugging XML-related technologies. Featured are tools including a graphical schema designer, a code generation tool, file converters, debuggers, and profilers for woking with XSLT, XSD, XBRL, and SOAP. XMLSpy leverages the RaptorXML Server for JSON validation and processing.

Where to download Altova XMLSpy 

You can download a free trial version of Altova XMLSpy from the Altova website.

Code Beautify JSON Tools

The Code Beautify JSON Tools range from a JSON Viewer, JSON Editor, and JSON Validator to JSON-to-HTML, JSON-to-XML, and JSON-to-YAML converters. Also offered is an Excel to JSON Converter and a JSON minifier. Code Beautify also offers an online script editor, beautifier, minifier, and converters for XML, HTML, CSV, CSS, RSS, SQL, Base64, and other data formats and file types.

Where to access Code Beautify JSON tools

You can access the Code Beautify JSON Tools online.

Visual Studio Code

Microsoft’s popular code editor has built-in support for editing JSON files. This includes validation, quick navigation, code folding, and suggestions, via IntelliSense, for properties and values. When hovering over properties and values of JSON data, additional context is provided. VS Code will use associated JSON schemas to understand the structure of JSON files.

Where to download Visual Studio Code

You can download Visual Studio Code from the project website.

Eclipse JSON Editor Plugin

The free JSON Editor Plugin for the Eclipse IDE includes capabilities such as custom syntax highlighting, code folding, formatting, and editing, providing a synchronized tree view. Syntax tree parsing is offered as well. The Eclipse JSON Editor Plugin conforms to the RFC 4627 JSON standard.

Where to download the Eclipse JSON Editor Plugin

You can download the Eclipse JSON Editor Plugin from the Eclipse Marketplace.