JSON vs XML

Both JSON and XML can be used to receive data from a web server.

The following JSON and XML examples both define an employees object, with an array of 3 employees:

JSON Example

{"employees":[
  { "firstName":"John", "lastName":"Doe" },
  { "firstName":"Anna", "lastName":"Smith" },
  { "firstName":"Peter", "lastName":"Jones" }
]}

XML Example

<employees>
<employee>
    <firstName>John</firstName> <lastName>Doe</lastName>
  </employee>
  <employee>
    <firstName>Anna</firstName> <lastName>Smith</lastName>
</employee>
  <employee>
    <firstName>Peter</firstName> <lastName>Jones</lastName>
</employee>
</employees>

JSON is Like XML Because

Both JSON and XML are "self describing" (human readable)
Both JSON and XML are hierarchical (values within values)
Both JSON and XML can be parsed and used by lots of programming languages
Both JSON and XML can be fetched with an XMLHttpRequest

JSON is Unlike XML Because

JSON doesn't use end tag
JSON is shorter
JSON is quicker to read and write
JSON can use arrays

The biggest difference is:

XML has to be parsed with an XML parser. JSON can be parsed by a standard JavaScript function.

Why JSON is Better Than XML

XML is much more difficult to parse than JSON.
JSON is parsed into a ready-to-use JavaScript object.

For AJAX applications, JSON is faster and easier than XML:

Using XML

Fetch an XML document
Use the XML DOM to loop through the document
Extract values and store in variables

Using JSON

Fetch a JSON string
JSON.Parse the JSON string

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