391 lines
14 KiB
Markdown
391 lines
14 KiB
Markdown
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# Serde JSON   [![Build Status]][travis] [![Latest Version]][crates.io] [![Rustc Version 1.36+]][rustc]
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[Build Status]: https://img.shields.io/github/workflow/status/serde-rs/json/CI/master
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[travis]: https://github.com/serde-rs/json/actions?query=branch%3Amaster
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[Latest Version]: https://img.shields.io/crates/v/serde_json.svg
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[crates.io]: https://crates.io/crates/serde\_json
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[Rustc Version 1.36+]: https://img.shields.io/badge/rustc-1.36+-lightgray.svg
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[rustc]: https://blog.rust-lang.org/2019/07/04/Rust-1.36.0.html
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**Serde is a framework for *ser*ializing and *de*serializing Rust data structures efficiently and generically.**
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---
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```toml
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[dependencies]
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serde_json = "1.0"
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```
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You may be looking for:
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- [JSON API documentation](https://docs.serde.rs/serde_json/)
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- [Serde API documentation](https://docs.serde.rs/serde/)
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- [Detailed documentation about Serde](https://serde.rs/)
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- [Setting up `#[derive(Serialize, Deserialize)]`](https://serde.rs/derive.html)
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- [Release notes](https://github.com/serde-rs/json/releases)
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JSON is a ubiquitous open-standard format that uses human-readable text to
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transmit data objects consisting of key-value pairs.
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```json
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{
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"name": "John Doe",
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"age": 43,
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"address": {
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"street": "10 Downing Street",
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"city": "London"
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},
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"phones": [
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"+44 1234567",
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"+44 2345678"
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]
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}
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```
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There are three common ways that you might find yourself needing to work with
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JSON data in Rust.
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- **As text data.** An unprocessed string of JSON data that you receive on an
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HTTP endpoint, read from a file, or prepare to send to a remote server.
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- **As an untyped or loosely typed representation.** Maybe you want to check
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that some JSON data is valid before passing it on, but without knowing the
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structure of what it contains. Or you want to do very basic manipulations
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like insert a key in a particular spot.
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- **As a strongly typed Rust data structure.** When you expect all or most of
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your data to conform to a particular structure and want to get real work done
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without JSON's loosey-goosey nature tripping you up.
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Serde JSON provides efficient, flexible, safe ways of converting data between
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each of these representations.
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## Operating on untyped JSON values
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Any valid JSON data can be manipulated in the following recursive enum
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representation. This data structure is [`serde_json::Value`][value].
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```rust
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enum Value {
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Null,
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Bool(bool),
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Number(Number),
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String(String),
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Array(Vec<Value>),
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Object(Map<String, Value>),
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}
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```
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A string of JSON data can be parsed into a `serde_json::Value` by the
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[`serde_json::from_str`][from_str] function. There is also
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[`from_slice`][from_slice] for parsing from a byte slice &[u8] and
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[`from_reader`][from_reader] for parsing from any `io::Read` like a File or a
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TCP stream.
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<div align="right">
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<a href="https://play.rust-lang.org/?edition=2018&gist=d69d8e3156d4bb81c4461b60b772ab72" target="_blank">
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<img align="center" width="85" src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/serde-rs/serde-rs.github.io/master/img/runtab.png">
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</a>
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</div>
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```rust
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use serde_json::{Result, Value};
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fn untyped_example() -> Result<()> {
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// Some JSON input data as a &str. Maybe this comes from the user.
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let data = r#"
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{
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"name": "John Doe",
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"age": 43,
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"phones": [
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"+44 1234567",
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"+44 2345678"
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]
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}"#;
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// Parse the string of data into serde_json::Value.
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let v: Value = serde_json::from_str(data)?;
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// Access parts of the data by indexing with square brackets.
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println!("Please call {} at the number {}", v["name"], v["phones"][0]);
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Ok(())
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}
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```
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The result of square bracket indexing like `v["name"]` is a borrow of the data
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at that index, so the type is `&Value`. A JSON map can be indexed with string
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keys, while a JSON array can be indexed with integer keys. If the type of the
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data is not right for the type with which it is being indexed, or if a map does
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not contain the key being indexed, or if the index into a vector is out of
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bounds, the returned element is `Value::Null`.
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When a `Value` is printed, it is printed as a JSON string. So in the code above,
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the output looks like `Please call "John Doe" at the number "+44 1234567"`. The
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quotation marks appear because `v["name"]` is a `&Value` containing a JSON
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string and its JSON representation is `"John Doe"`. Printing as a plain string
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without quotation marks involves converting from a JSON string to a Rust string
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with [`as_str()`] or avoiding the use of `Value` as described in the following
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section.
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[`as_str()`]: https://docs.serde.rs/serde_json/enum.Value.html#method.as_str
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The `Value` representation is sufficient for very basic tasks but can be tedious
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to work with for anything more significant. Error handling is verbose to
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implement correctly, for example imagine trying to detect the presence of
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unrecognized fields in the input data. The compiler is powerless to help you
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when you make a mistake, for example imagine typoing `v["name"]` as `v["nmae"]`
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in one of the dozens of places it is used in your code.
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## Parsing JSON as strongly typed data structures
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Serde provides a powerful way of mapping JSON data into Rust data structures
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largely automatically.
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<div align="right">
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<a href="https://play.rust-lang.org/?edition=2018&gist=15cfab66d38ff8a15a9cf1d8d897ac68" target="_blank">
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<img align="center" width="85" src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/serde-rs/serde-rs.github.io/master/img/runtab.png">
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</a>
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</div>
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```rust
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use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
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use serde_json::Result;
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#[derive(Serialize, Deserialize)]
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struct Person {
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name: String,
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age: u8,
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phones: Vec<String>,
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}
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fn typed_example() -> Result<()> {
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// Some JSON input data as a &str. Maybe this comes from the user.
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let data = r#"
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{
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"name": "John Doe",
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"age": 43,
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"phones": [
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"+44 1234567",
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"+44 2345678"
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]
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}"#;
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// Parse the string of data into a Person object. This is exactly the
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// same function as the one that produced serde_json::Value above, but
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// now we are asking it for a Person as output.
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let p: Person = serde_json::from_str(data)?;
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// Do things just like with any other Rust data structure.
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println!("Please call {} at the number {}", p.name, p.phones[0]);
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Ok(())
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}
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```
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This is the same `serde_json::from_str` function as before, but this time we
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assign the return value to a variable of type `Person` so Serde will
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automatically interpret the input data as a `Person` and produce informative
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error messages if the layout does not conform to what a `Person` is expected to
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look like.
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Any type that implements Serde's `Deserialize` trait can be deserialized this
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way. This includes built-in Rust standard library types like `Vec<T>` and
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`HashMap<K, V>`, as well as any structs or enums annotated with
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`#[derive(Deserialize)]`.
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Once we have `p` of type `Person`, our IDE and the Rust compiler can help us use
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it correctly like they do for any other Rust code. The IDE can autocomplete
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field names to prevent typos, which was impossible in the `serde_json::Value`
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representation. And the Rust compiler can check that when we write
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`p.phones[0]`, then `p.phones` is guaranteed to be a `Vec<String>` so indexing
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into it makes sense and produces a `String`.
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The necessary setup for using Serde's derive macros is explained on the *[Using
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derive]* page of the Serde site.
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[Using derive]: https://serde.rs/derive.html
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## Constructing JSON values
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Serde JSON provides a [`json!` macro][macro] to build `serde_json::Value`
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objects with very natural JSON syntax.
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<div align="right">
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<a href="https://play.rust-lang.org/?edition=2018&gist=6ccafad431d72b62e77cc34c8e879b24" target="_blank">
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<img align="center" width="85" src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/serde-rs/serde-rs.github.io/master/img/runtab.png">
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</a>
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</div>
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```rust
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use serde_json::json;
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fn main() {
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// The type of `john` is `serde_json::Value`
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let john = json!({
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"name": "John Doe",
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"age": 43,
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"phones": [
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"+44 1234567",
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"+44 2345678"
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]
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});
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println!("first phone number: {}", john["phones"][0]);
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// Convert to a string of JSON and print it out
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println!("{}", john.to_string());
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}
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```
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The `Value::to_string()` function converts a `serde_json::Value` into a `String`
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of JSON text.
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One neat thing about the `json!` macro is that variables and expressions can be
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interpolated directly into the JSON value as you are building it. Serde will
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check at compile time that the value you are interpolating is able to be
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represented as JSON.
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<div align="right">
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<a href="https://play.rust-lang.org/?edition=2018&gist=f9101a6e61dfc9e02c6a67f315ed24f2" target="_blank">
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<img align="center" width="85" src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/serde-rs/serde-rs.github.io/master/img/runtab.png">
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</a>
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</div>
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```rust
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let full_name = "John Doe";
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let age_last_year = 42;
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// The type of `john` is `serde_json::Value`
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let john = json!({
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"name": full_name,
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"age": age_last_year + 1,
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"phones": [
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format!("+44 {}", random_phone())
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]
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});
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```
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This is amazingly convenient, but we have the problem we had before with
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`Value`: the IDE and Rust compiler cannot help us if we get it wrong. Serde JSON
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provides a better way of serializing strongly-typed data structures into JSON
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text.
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## Creating JSON by serializing data structures
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A data structure can be converted to a JSON string by
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[`serde_json::to_string`][to_string]. There is also
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[`serde_json::to_vec`][to_vec] which serializes to a `Vec<u8>` and
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[`serde_json::to_writer`][to_writer] which serializes to any `io::Write`
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such as a File or a TCP stream.
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<div align="right">
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<a href="https://play.rust-lang.org/?edition=2018&gist=3472242a08ed2ff88a944f2a2283b0ee" target="_blank">
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<img align="center" width="85" src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/serde-rs/serde-rs.github.io/master/img/runtab.png">
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</a>
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</div>
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```rust
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use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
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use serde_json::Result;
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#[derive(Serialize, Deserialize)]
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struct Address {
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street: String,
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city: String,
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}
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fn print_an_address() -> Result<()> {
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// Some data structure.
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let address = Address {
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street: "10 Downing Street".to_owned(),
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city: "London".to_owned(),
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};
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// Serialize it to a JSON string.
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let j = serde_json::to_string(&address)?;
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// Print, write to a file, or send to an HTTP server.
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println!("{}", j);
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Ok(())
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}
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```
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Any type that implements Serde's `Serialize` trait can be serialized this way.
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This includes built-in Rust standard library types like `Vec<T>` and `HashMap<K,
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V>`, as well as any structs or enums annotated with `#[derive(Serialize)]`.
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## Performance
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It is fast. You should expect in the ballpark of 500 to 1000 megabytes per
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second deserialization and 600 to 900 megabytes per second serialization,
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depending on the characteristics of your data. This is competitive with the
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fastest C and C++ JSON libraries or even 30% faster for many use cases.
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Benchmarks live in the [serde-rs/json-benchmark] repo.
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[serde-rs/json-benchmark]: https://github.com/serde-rs/json-benchmark
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## Getting help
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Serde is one of the most widely used Rust libraries, so any place that
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Rustaceans congregate will be able to help you out. For chat, consider trying
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the [#rust-questions] or [#rust-beginners] channels of the unofficial community
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Discord (invite: <https://discord.gg/rust-lang-community>), the [#rust-usage] or
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[#beginners] channels of the official Rust Project Discord (invite:
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<https://discord.gg/rust-lang>), or the [#general][zulip] stream in Zulip. For
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asynchronous, consider the [\[rust\] tag on StackOverflow][stackoverflow], the
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[/r/rust] subreddit which has a pinned weekly easy questions post, or the Rust
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[Discourse forum][discourse]. It's acceptable to file a support issue in this
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repo, but they tend not to get as many eyes as any of the above and may get
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closed without a response after some time.
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[#rust-questions]: https://discord.com/channels/273534239310479360/274215136414400513
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[#rust-beginners]: https://discord.com/channels/273534239310479360/273541522815713281
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[#rust-usage]: https://discord.com/channels/442252698964721669/443150878111694848
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[#beginners]: https://discord.com/channels/442252698964721669/448238009733742612
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[zulip]: https://rust-lang.zulipchat.com/#narrow/stream/122651-general
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[stackoverflow]: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/rust
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[/r/rust]: https://www.reddit.com/r/rust
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[discourse]: https://users.rust-lang.org
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## No-std support
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As long as there is a memory allocator, it is possible to use serde_json without
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the rest of the Rust standard library. Disable the default "std" feature and
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enable the "alloc" feature:
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```toml
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[dependencies]
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serde_json = { version = "1.0", default-features = false, features = ["alloc"] }
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```
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For JSON support in Serde without a memory allocator, please see the
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[`serde-json-core`] crate.
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[`serde-json-core`]: https://github.com/rust-embedded-community/serde-json-core
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[value]: https://docs.serde.rs/serde_json/value/enum.Value.html
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[from_str]: https://docs.serde.rs/serde_json/de/fn.from_str.html
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[from_slice]: https://docs.serde.rs/serde_json/de/fn.from_slice.html
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[from_reader]: https://docs.serde.rs/serde_json/de/fn.from_reader.html
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[to_string]: https://docs.serde.rs/serde_json/ser/fn.to_string.html
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[to_vec]: https://docs.serde.rs/serde_json/ser/fn.to_vec.html
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[to_writer]: https://docs.serde.rs/serde_json/ser/fn.to_writer.html
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[macro]: https://docs.serde.rs/serde_json/macro.json.html
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<br>
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#### License
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<sup>
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Licensed under either of <a href="LICENSE-APACHE">Apache License, Version
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2.0</a> or <a href="LICENSE-MIT">MIT license</a> at your option.
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</sup>
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<br>
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<sub>
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Unless you explicitly state otherwise, any contribution intentionally submitted
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for inclusion in this crate by you, as defined in the Apache-2.0 license, shall
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be dual licensed as above, without any additional terms or conditions.
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</sub>
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