JSON (JavaScript Object Notation)

JSON is the universal language of web data. When your app talks to an API, the request and response are almost always JSON. When you store configuration, it is usually a .json file. When AI models return structured output, they return JSON.

A JSON object is a collection of key-value pairs wrapped in curly braces. Values can be strings, numbers, booleans, arrays, or nested objects. The format is human-readable and easy for machines to parse, which is why it won the web over XML.

For vibe coders, understanding JSON structure matters because AI tools constantly generate, consume, and transform it. Knowing what well-formed JSON looks like helps you spot errors in API responses, debug malformed payloads, and write better prompts that ask for structured output.