Automation and APIs

JSON

Also called jq, object, array, key-value, YAML, XML, data serialization, data format

The text format APIs exchange data in: objects of key: value pairs, arrays, strings, numbers, true, false and null.

{ } holds an object (keys in double quotes, each with a value), [ ] an array (an ordered list). A value is a string, a number, true/false, null, an object or an array, nested as deep as needed. jq pretty-prints JSON (jq .) and picks parts out (.interfaces[].name, keys, length, select(.protocol == "static")). The same data can be written as YAML (structure by indentation, - per list item: Ansible, many config files) or XML (values between opening and closing tags: NETCONF). An API picks the format from the request's Accept header and names it in Content-Type.

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