JSON Document Data Overview

Not Only SQL (NoSQL) databases are often called schema-less or semi-structured and are used by applications that need a flexible data schema such as mobile applications that need to store data on multiple OSs and devices. Unlike a relational database, which contains predefined columns for data, NoSQL databases are made of objects called documents that contain both the schema and the data.

Microsoft’s preferred NoSQL storage format, JavaScript Object Notation (JSON), is a popular open-standard format used by many NoSQL database products and services.

JSON encodes data in a format based on the JavaScript programming language syntax. JavaScript encoding makes JSON particularly well suited to Web and mobile applications, because data in the JSON format can be consumed more easily from within JavaScript code running within Web pages. The JSON format has been gaining popularity in recent years and has distinct advantages over using XML. It has data exchange features similar to XML, but the data is accessible by a wider variety of languages and products. JSON also tends to be easier to parse and generate, is less verbose, and offers a more human-readable format that makes it easier to debug and manage.