Notes on ECMAScript 5.1 Specification, Section 15.12.1

Section 15.12 describes the JSON Object.

15.12.1 The JSON Grammar

https://262.ecma-international.org/5.1/#sec-15.12.1.1https://262.ecma-international.org/5.1/#sec-15.12.1.1

JSON has a specific syntax. JSON.stringify returns a string that conforms to this syntax, while JSON.parse expects to receive a string that follows this syntax.

15.12.1.1 The JSON Lexical Grammar

• JSONWhiteSpace
  • <TAB> (\t)
  • <CR> (\r)
  • <LF> (\n)
  • <SP> (\u0020)
• JSONString
  • " JSONStringCharacters(opt) "
    • JSONStringCharacters
      • JSONStringCharacter JSONStringCharacters(opt)
        • For example, in a string like "hello world":
          • " (double quote) is required
          • hello world can be any characters except ", , or control characters (U+0000 through U+001F)
          • " (double quote) is required
        • JSONStringCharacter
          • SourceCharacter but not one of " or \ or U+0000 through U+001F
        • JSONEscapeSequence
          • Either JSONEscapeCharacter or UnicodeEscapeSequence
            • JSONEscapeCharacter can be any of the following:
              • \" (double quote)
              • \/ (forward slash)
              • \\ (backslash)
              • \b (backspace)
              • \f (form feed)
              • \n (newline)
              • \r (carriage return)
              • \t (tab)
            • UnicodeEscapeSequence is \
• JSONNumber
  • -(opt) DecimalIntegerLiteral JSONFraction(opt) ExponentPart(opt)
    • For example, in a number like -123.45e+6:
      • - (minus sign) is optional for non-negative numbers
      • 123 (integer part) is required
      • .45 (fraction part) is optional
      • e+6 (exponent part) is optional
• JSONNullLiteral
  • NullLiteral
• JSONBooleanLiteral
  • BooleanLiteral

15.12.1.2 The JSON Syntactic Grammar

https://262.ecma-international.org/5.1/#sec-15.12.1.2https://262.ecma-international.org/5.1/#sec-15.12.1.2

The syntax appears to be structured as follows.

• JSONText
  • JSONValue
    • JSONNullLiteral
    • JSONBooleanLiteral
    • JSONObject
      • { }
      • { JSONMemberList }
        • JSONMember (key-value pair)
          • JSONString : JSONValue
          • JSONMemberList
            • JSONMember
            • JSONMemberList , JSONMember
    • JSONArray
      • [ ]
      • [ JSONElementList ]
        • JSONValue
        • JSONElementList , JSONValue
    • JSONString
    • JSONNumber

While I hadn't thought about it deeply before, it makes sense that it can be represented this way.