Json.NET is a popular high-performance JSON framework for .NET

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Features

  • Flexible JSON serializer for converting between .NET objects and JSON
  • LINQ to JSON for manually reading and writing JSON
  • High performance, faster than .NET's built-in JSON serializers
  • Write indented, easy to read JSON
  • Convert JSON to and from XML
  • Supports .NET 2, .NET 3.5, .NET 4, Silverlight and Windows Phone

The serializer is a good choice when the JSON you are reading or writing maps closely to a .NET class.

LINQ to JSON is good for situations where you are only interested in getting values from JSON, you don't have a class to serialize or deserialize to, or the JSON is radically different from your class and you need to manually read and write from your objects.

Serialization Example

Product product = new Product();
product.Name = "Apple";
product.Expiry = new DateTime(2008, 12, 28);
product.Price = 3.99M;
product.Sizes = new string[] { "Small", "Medium", "Large" };
 
string json = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(product);
//{
//  "Name": "Apple",
//  "Expiry": new Date(1230422400000),
//  "Price": 3.99,
//  "Sizes": [
//    "Small",
//    "Medium",
//    "Large"
//  ]
//}
 
Product deserializedProduct = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<Product>(json);

LINQ to JSON Example

string json = @"{
  ""Name"": ""Apple"",
  ""Expiry"": new Date(1230422400000),
  ""Price"": 3.99,
  ""Sizes"": [
    ""Small"",
    ""Medium"",
    ""Large""
  ]
}";
 
JObject o = JObject.Parse(json);
 
string name = (string)o["Name"];
// Apple
 
JArray sizes = (JArray)o["Sizes"];
 
string smallest = (string)sizes[0];
// Small

Documentation

Json.NET - Quick Starts & API Documentation

Feature Comparison