[caption id="" align=“aligncenter” width=“500” caption=“Douglas Crockford talking about “The JSON Saga””] 
[/caption]
notes from Bayjax Meetup: http://www.meetup.com/BayJax/calendar/108524
Doug Crockford on the json saga
- json already existed in nature, but crockford discovered it
- it wwas being used at netscape in he form of array literals in communication 5 yrs before crockford discovered it
- crockford’s first transmission used js embedded in html in a frame for cross-browser compatability
- they set document.domain to get around the same origin policy
- backslashes are tolerated in json so we can put html in json
- original name was JSML, but that conflicted w/ a pre-existing java protcol
- json’s good for interserver and db applications
- some of his customers balked at usage because it wasn’t standard, so crockford put up a website to standardize it
- json is the intersection of modern programming languages
-- simple values
-- sequence of values
-- collection of named values
-- an intersection is easier to find than a union
- js is brilliant for state machines
- most ppl implement json parsers using eval, but this must be guarded by regex to valiudate the json, which slows it doen
- the latest version of ecma script implements a native JSON.parse, which is ver fast
- ajax was an important influence on json uptake
- improvements
-- strip comments
--- comments broke the parser
--- comment parsing greatly increased complexity
--- alignment w/ yaml
-- added e notation to numnbers
- no version number
-- everything’s crap until 3.0, but we avoid this by not having version numbers
-- perhaps someday it will be replaced
-- at least one piece of the stack will remain constant forever
- minimalism
-- can fit on the back of a business card
- influences
-- lisp s-expressions
--- perhaps the greatest influence
-- rebol
--- al built upon a represenation of data, which is then executable
--- rebol is a brilliant language
-- JS, Python, NewtonScript
--- Brendon Ike is a brilliant guy, so it’s no accident that it has brilliant aspects
--- all were developed in isolation at the same time
-- NeXT
--- OpenStep property lists
-- XML
--- how did it become so popular?
---- html reduced it to basics, made it more basic, and made it easier to get everything to balance
---- A-level CTOs threw it out, but the B- and C-level developers embraced it and outnumbered the A-levels
--- john seely brown said “maybe only something this simple could work”
---- he thought that the future was in loosely coupled systems
--- xmlsucks.org
--- some guy named pault lists all the xml alternatives
- disruption
- the 1st rule of workmanship: use the right tool for the right job
- xml arose out of: one tool to rule them all
- where did the idea come from that every data format should be a document format?
-- runoff was one of the first
-- GML
-- Scribe
--- the first place where document formate were done well
--- separated format from markup
--- if the web had been based on scribe instead of sgml, it would be a better place today
--- scribe was the first time where doc format was used for data
- license
-- MIT + “the software shall be used for good, not evil”
- the logo
-- related to the ambihelical hexnut :P
-- a square and a circle w/ a twist
-- data interchange we can believe in
- questions
-- what would make html better
--- make it extensible
--- to be able to define new tags using css
-- is there case-sensitivity in unicode?
--- maybe. use lower-case in the meantime
-- what would you like to see replace json
--- jsonp is brilliant
--- currently, we can’t easily represent simple bags
--- remove the quotes from the keys
--- a = []; a[0] = a; => infinite loop when run thru parser
-- schema-less langs
--- i don’t care
--- brilliant work in schema-less dbs now
-- why no commnets
--- because ppl were using them to communicate w/ the parser
doug crockford on the json saga
- json already existed in nature, but crockford discovered it
- it wwas being used at netscape in he form of array literals in communication 5 yrs before crockford discovered it
- crockford’s first transmission used js embedded in html in a frame for cross-browser compatability
- they set document.domain to get around the same origin policy
- backslashes are tolerated in json so we can put html in json
- original name was JSML, but that conflicted w/ a pre-existing java protcol
- json’s good for interserver and db applications
- some of his customers balked at usage because it wasn’t standard, so crockford put up a website to standardize it
- json is the intersection of modern programming languages
-- simple values
-- sequence of values
-- collection of named values
-- an intersection is easier to find than a union
- js is brilliant for state machines
- most ppl implement json parsers using eval, but this must be guarded by regex to valiudate the json, which slows it doen
- the latest version of ecma script implements a native JSON.parse, which is ver fast
- ajax was an important influence on json uptake
- improvements
-- strip comments
--- comments broke the parser
--- comment parsing greatly increased complexity
--- alignment w/ yaml
-- added e notation to numnbers
- no version number
-- everything’s crap until 3.0, but we avoid this by not having version numbers
-- perhaps someday it will be replaced
-- at least one piece of the stack will remain constant forever
- minimalism
-- can fit on the back of a business card
- influences
-- lisp s-expressions
--- perhaps the greatest influence
-- rebol
--- al built upon a represenation of data, which is then executable
--- rebol is a brilliant language
-- JS, Python, NewtonScript
--- Brendon Ike is a brilliant guy, so it’s no accident that it has brilliant aspects
--- all were developed in isolation at the same time
-- NeXT
--- OpenStep property lists
-- XML
--- how did it become so popular?
---- html reduced it to basics, made it more basic, and made it easier to get everything to balance
---- A-level CTOs threw it out, but the B- and C-level developers embraced it and outnumbered the A-levels
--- john seely brown said “maybe only something this simple could work”
---- he thought that the future was in loosely coupled systems
--- xmlsucks.org
--- some guy named pault lists all the xml alternatives
- disruption
- the 1st rule of workmanship: use the right tool for the right job
- xml arose out of: one tool to rule them all
- where did the idea come from that every data format should be a document format?
-- runoff was one of the first
-- GML
-- Scribe
--- the first place where document formate were done well
--- separated format from markup
--- if the web had been based on scribe instead of sgml, it would be a better place today
--- scribe was the first time where doc format was used for data
- license
-- MIT + “the software shall be used for good, not evil”
- the logo
-- related to the ambihelical hexnut :P
-- a square and a circle w/ a twist
-- data interchange we can believe in
- questions
-- what would make html better
--- make it extensible
--- to be able to define new tags using css
-- is there case-sensitivity in unicode?
--- maybe. use lower-case in the meantime
-- what would you like to see replace json
--- jsonp is brilliant
--- currently, we can’t easily represent simple bags
--- remove the quotes from the keys
--- a = []; a[0] = a; => infinite loop when run thru parser
-- schema-less langs
--- i don’t care
--- brilliant work in schema-less dbs now
-- why no commnets
--- because ppl were using them to communicate w/ the parserdoug crockford on the json saga
- json already existed in nature, but crockford discovered it
- it wwas being used at netscape in he form of array literals in communication 5 yrs before crockford discovered it
- crockford’s first transmission used js embedded in html in a frame for cross-browser compatability
- they set document.domain to get around the same origin policy
- backslashes are tolerated in json so we can put html in json
- original name was JSML, but that conflicted w/ a pre-existing java protcol
- json’s good for interserver and db applications
- some of his customers balked at usage because it wasn’t standard, so crockford put up a website to standardize it
- json is the intersection of modern programming languages
-- simple values
-- sequence of values
-- collection of named values
-- an intersection is easier to find than a union
- js is brilliant for state machines
- most ppl implement json parsers using eval, but this must be guarded by regex to valiudate the json, which slows it doen
- the latest version of ecma script implements a native JSON.parse, which is ver fast
- ajax was an important influence on json uptake
- improvements
-- strip comments
--- comments broke the parser
--- comment parsing greatly increased complexity
--- alignment w/ yaml
-- added e notation to numnbers
- no version number
-- everything’s crap until 3.0, but we avoid this by not having version numbers
-- perhaps someday it will be replaced
-- at least one piece of the stack will remain constant forever
- minimalism
-- can fit on the back of a business card
- influences
-- lisp s-expressions
--- perhaps the greatest influence
-- rebol
--- al built upon a represenation of data, which is then executable
--- rebol is a brilliant language
-- JS, Python, NewtonScript
--- Brendon Ike is a brilliant guy, so it’s no accident that it has brilliant aspects
--- all were developed in isolation at the same time
-- NeXT
--- OpenStep property lists
-- XML
--- how did it become so popular?
---- html reduced it to basics, made it more basic, and made it easier to get everything to balance
---- A-level CTOs threw it out, but the B- and C-level developers embraced it and outnumbered the A-levels
--- john seely brown said “maybe only something this simple could work”
---- he thought that the future was in loosely coupled systems
--- xmlsucks.org
--- some guy named pault lists all the xml alternatives
- disruption
- the 1st rule of workmanship: use the right tool for the right job
- xml arose out of: one tool to rule them all
- where did the idea come from that every data format should be a document format?
-- runoff was one of the first
-- GML
-- Scribe
--- the first place where document formate were done well
--- separated format from markup
--- if the web had been based on scribe instead of sgml, it would be a better place today
--- scribe was the first time where doc format was used for data
- license
-- MIT + “the software shall be used for good, not evil”
- the logo
-- related to the ambihelical hexnut :P
-- a square and a circle w/ a twist
-- data interchange we can believe in
- questions
-- what would make html better
--- make it extensible
--- to be able to define new tags using css
-- is there case-sensitivity in unicode?
--- maybe. use lower-case in the meantime
-- what would you like to see replace json
--- jsonp is brilliant
--- currently, we can’t easily represent simple bags
--- remove the quotes from the keys
--- a = []; a[0] = a; => infinite loop when run thru parser
-- schema-less langs
--- i don’t care
--- brilliant work in schema-less dbs now
-- why no commnets
--- because ppl were using them to communicate w/ the parser