Build Basics / Standard term
JSON (JavaScript Object Notation)
JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) is a plain-text format for structured data, written as labeled fields paired with values, that software uses to pass information back and forth in a form both machines and people can read.
JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) is a plain-text format for structured data, written as labeled fields paired with values, that software uses to pass information back and forth in a form both machines and people can read. A field name sits on the left, its value on the right, and curly braces group related fields together. When a to-do app asks a server for one task, the server might answer with {"id": 7, "title": "Reset password", "done": false}. The receiving code reads the title field by name instead of guessing where it sits, and the same text is legible to a person scanning the response.
Builder example
When you tell an AI assistant to fetch data from an outside service, the answer usually arrives as JSON, and your project pulls the fields it needs by name. If you ask the assistant to return its own result as JSON with named fields, the next step can read it directly instead of parsing loose prose. A single missing brace or stray comma makes the whole block unreadable, so a malformed reply often shows up as a parsing error rather than a partial result.
Common confusion: JSON describes the shape of data being exchanged, while an Application Programming Interface (API) is the address you call to request or send that data. What separates them is role: the API is the door, and JSON is the format of the package that passes through it.