For more information on contributions, please see [CONTRIBUTING.md](https://github.com/stleary/JSON-java/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md)

**Recent directory structure change**

_Due to a recent commit - [#515 Merge tests and pom and code](https://github.com/stleary/JSON-java/pull/515) - the structure of the project has changed from a flat directory containing all of the Java files to a directory structure that includes unit tests and several tools used to build the project jar and run the unit tests. If you have difficulty using the new structure, please open an issue so we can work through it._

**Implementation notes**

Numeric types in this package comply with

[ECMA-404: The JSON Data Interchange Format](http://www.ecma-international.org/publications/files/ECMA-ST/ECMA-404.pdf) and

[RFC 8259: The JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) Data Interchange Format](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc8259#section-6).

This package fully supports `Integer`, `Long`, and `Double` Java types. Partial support

for `BigInteger` and `BigDecimal` values in `JSONObject` and `JSONArray` objects is provided

in the form of `get()`, `opt()`, and `put()` API methods.

Although 1.6 compatibility is currently supported, it is not a project goal and might be

removed in some future release.

In compliance with RFC8259 page 10 section 9, the parser is more lax with what is valid

JSON then the Generator. For Example, the tab character (U+0009) is allowed when reading

JSON Text strings, but when output by the Generator, the tab is properly converted to \t in

the string. Other instances may occur where reading invalid JSON text does not cause an

error to be generated. Malformed JSON Texts such as missing end " (quote) on strings or

invalid number formats (1.2e6.3) will cause errors as such documents can not be read

reliably.

Some notable exceptions that the JSON Parser in this library accepts are:

* Unquoted keys `{ key: "value" }`

* Unquoted values `{ "key": value }`

* Unescaped literals like "tab" in string values `{ "key": "value with an unescaped tab" }`

* Numbers out of range for `Double` or `Long` are parsed as strings

Recent pull requests added a new method `putAll` on the JSONArray. The `putAll` method

works similarly to other `put` methods in that it does not call `JSONObject.wrap` for items

added. This can lead to inconsistent object representation in JSONArray structures.

For example, code like this will create a mixed JSONArray, some items wrapped, others

not:

SomeBean[] myArr = new SomeBean[]{ new SomeBean(1), new SomeBean(2) };

JSONArray jArr = new JSONArray(myArr);

jArr.putAll(new SomeBean[]{ new SomeBean(3), new SomeBean(4) });

For structure consistency, it would be recommended that the above code is changed

to look like 1 of 2 ways.

Option 1:

SomeBean[] myArr = new SomeBean[]{ new SomeBean(1), new SomeBean(2) };

JSONArray jArr = new JSONArray();

jArr.putAll(myArr);

jArr.putAll(new SomeBean[]{ new SomeBean(3), new SomeBean(4) });

Option 2:

SomeBean[] myArr = new SomeBean[]{ new SomeBean(1), new SomeBean(2) };

JSONArray jArr = new JSONArray(myArr);

jArr.putAll(new JSONArray(new SomeBean[]{ new SomeBean(3), new SomeBean(4) }));

**Unit Test Conventions**

Test filenames should consist of the name of the module being tested, with the suffix "Test".

For example, <b>Cookie.java</b> is tested by <b>CookieTest.java</b>.

<b>The fundamental issues with JSON-Java testing are:</b><br>

* <b>JSONObjects</b> are unordered, making simple string comparison ineffective.

* Comparisons via **equals()** is not currently supported. Neither <b>JSONArray</b> nor <b>JSONObject</b> override <b>hashCode()</b> or <b>equals()</b>, so comparison defaults to the <b>Object</b> equals(), which is not useful.

* Access to the <b>JSONArray</b> and <b>JSONObject</b> internal containers for comparison is not currently available.

<b>General issues with unit testing are:</b><br>

* Just writing tests to make coverage goals tends to result in poor tests.

* Unit tests are a form of documentation - how a given method works is demonstrated by the test. So for a code reviewer or future developer looking at code a good test helps explain how a function is supposed to work according to the original author. This can be difficult if you are not the original developer.

* It is difficult to evaluate unit tests in a vacuum. You also need to see the code being tested to understand if a test is good.

* Without unit tests, it is hard to feel confident about the quality of the code, especially when fixing bugs or refactoring. Good tests prevent regressions and keep the intent of the code correct.

* If you have unit test results along with pull requests, the reviewer has an easier time understanding your code and determining if it works as intended.

**JSONObject.java**: The `JSONObject` can parse text from a `String` or a `JSONTokener`

to produce a map-like object. The object provides methods for manipulating its

contents, and for producing a JSON compliant object serialization.

**JSONArray.java**: The `JSONArray` can parse text from a String or a `JSONTokener`

to produce a vector-like object. The object provides methods for manipulating

its contents, and for producing a JSON compliant array serialization.

**JSONTokener.java**: The `JSONTokener` breaks a text into a sequence of individual

tokens. It can be constructed from a `String`, `Reader`, or `InputStream`. It also can

parse text from a `String`, `Number`, `Boolean` or `null` like `"hello"`, `42`, `true`,

`null` to produce a simple json object.

**JSONException.java**: The `JSONException` is the standard exception type thrown

by this package.

**JSONPointer.java**: Implementation of

[JSON Pointer (RFC 6901)](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6901). Supports

JSON Pointers both in the form of string representation and URI fragment

representation.

**JSONPropertyIgnore.java**: Annotation class that can be used on Java Bean getter methods.

When used on a bean method that would normally be serialized into a `JSONObject`, it

overrides the getter-to-key-name logic and forces the property to be excluded from the

resulting `JSONObject`.

**JSONPropertyName.java**: Annotation class that can be used on Java Bean getter methods.

When used on a bean method that would normally be serialized into a `JSONObject`, it

overrides the getter-to-key-name logic and uses the value of the annotation. The Bean

processor will look through the class hierarchy. This means you can use the annotation on

a base class or interface and the value of the annotation will be used even if the getter

is overridden in a child class.

**JSONString.java**: The `JSONString` interface requires a `toJSONString` method,

allowing an object to provide its own serialization.

**JSONStringer.java**: The `JSONStringer` provides a convenient facility for

building JSON strings.

**JSONWriter.java**: The `JSONWriter` provides a convenient facility for building

JSON text through a writer.

**CDL.java**: `CDL` provides support for converting between JSON and comma

delimited lists.

**Cookie.java**: `Cookie` provides support for converting between JSON and cookies.

**CookieList.java**: `CookieList` provides support for converting between JSON and

cookie lists.

**HTTP.java**: `HTTP` provides support for converting between JSON and HTTP headers.

**HTTPTokener.java**: `HTTPTokener` extends `JSONTokener` for parsing HTTP headers.

**XML.java**: `XML` provides support for converting between JSON and XML.

**JSONML.java**: `JSONML` provides support for converting between JSONML and XML.

**XMLTokener.java**: `XMLTokener` extends `JSONTokener` for parsing XML text.

JSON-java releases can be found by searching the Maven repository for groupId "org.json"

and artifactId "json". For example: