• Article

System.Json Namespace

Microsoft Silverlight will reach end of support after October 2021. Learn more.

The System.Json namespace provides standards-based support for the serialization of JavaScript Object Notation (JSON).

JSON is a lightweight, text-based data interchange format that is used to serialize structured data for transmission over networks. It has three primitive data types: string, number, and Boolean. It has two data structures: array and object. An array is an ordered collection of values, where the value can be a JSON primitive, object or array. An object is an unordered set of key/value pairs. The key is a string and the value, as with the array, can be a JSON primitive, object, or array.

In this documentation, the serialized textual representation of JSON is referred to as “text-based JSON” to distinguish it from the deserialized representation of JSON as a Common Language Runtime (CLR) type, which is referred to here as a “JSON CLR type” or as a “JSON CLR object” if we are referring to an instance of the type.

JSON CLR types represent the three text-based JSON primitives with the JsonPrimitive type. The JsonType() property indicates which primitive is contained in the type instance: String, Number, or Boolean.

JSON CLR types represent the two text-based structured types with JsonArray and JsonObject. A JsonArray is an ordered sequence of zero or more JsonValue objects. A JsonValue is the JSON CLR representation of a JSON text-based value, which can be either a primitive or structured type. A JsonObject is an unordered collection of zero or more String/JsonValue pairs, which represent the key/value pairs of the text-based JSON object.

Classes

  Class Description
Public class JsonArray A JsonArray is an ordered sequence of zero or more JsonValue objects.
Public class JsonObject A JsonObject is an unordered collection of zero or more key/value pairs.
Public class JsonPrimitive Represents a JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) primitive type in the common language runtime (CLR).
Public class JsonValue This is the abstract base class for JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) common language runtime (CLR) types.

Enumerations

  Enumeration Description
Public enumeration JsonType An enumeration that specifies primitive and structured JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) common language runtime (CLR) types.