circular-json vs fast-json-stringify vs fast-stable-stringify vs flatted vs json-stable-stringify vs json-stringify-safe
JSON Stringification Libraries
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JSON Stringification Libraries

These libraries provide various functionalities for serializing JavaScript objects into JSON format, each with unique features tailored for specific use cases. They address common issues such as circular references, performance optimization, and maintaining the order of object keys, making them essential tools for developers working with JSON data in JavaScript applications.

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circular-json0611-07 years agoMIT
fast-json-stringify03,686393 kB362 months agoMIT
fast-stable-stringify030-09 years agoMIT
flatted01,13238.5 kB18 days agoISC
json-stable-stringify07936.4 kB7a year agoMIT
json-stringify-safe0554-711 years agoISC

Feature Comparison: circular-json vs fast-json-stringify vs fast-stable-stringify vs flatted vs json-stable-stringify vs json-stringify-safe

Circular Reference Handling

  • circular-json:

    Circular JSON can handle circular references seamlessly, allowing you to stringify objects that reference themselves without throwing errors.

  • fast-json-stringify:

    Fast JSON Stringify does not support circular references and will throw an error if encountered, making it unsuitable for such cases.

  • fast-stable-stringify:

    Fast Stable Stringify also does not support circular references, focusing instead on performance and key ordering.

  • flatted:

    Flatted supports circular references, enabling you to serialize complex objects without issues, making it a versatile choice.

  • json-stable-stringify:

    JSON Stable Stringify does not handle circular references and will throw an error if they are present.

  • json-stringify-safe:

    JSON Stringify Safe can handle circular references by replacing them with a placeholder, allowing for safe serialization.

Performance

  • circular-json:

    Circular JSON is not optimized for speed and may be slower than other libraries when handling large datasets due to its focus on circular reference support.

  • fast-json-stringify:

    Fast JSON Stringify is highly optimized for performance, making it one of the fastest options available for JSON serialization, especially with large objects.

  • fast-stable-stringify:

    Fast Stable Stringify is also performance-oriented, providing fast serialization while maintaining key order, though it may not be as fast as fast-json-stringify.

  • flatted:

    Flatted offers a good balance of performance and functionality, though it may not match the speed of fast-json-stringify for large datasets.

  • json-stable-stringify:

    JSON Stable Stringify is slower than some alternatives due to its focus on maintaining key order, which can add overhead during serialization.

  • json-stringify-safe:

    JSON Stringify Safe is not specifically optimized for performance and may be slower than other libraries when handling large datasets.

Key Order Consistency

  • circular-json:

    Circular JSON does not guarantee key order in the output, which may lead to inconsistent results when serializing objects with unordered keys.

  • fast-json-stringify:

    Fast JSON Stringify does not maintain key order, focusing instead on speed, which may be a drawback in scenarios where order matters.

  • fast-stable-stringify:

    Fast Stable Stringify guarantees consistent key ordering in the output, making it ideal for applications requiring deterministic JSON results.

  • flatted:

    Flatted does not guarantee key order, prioritizing circular reference handling over key consistency.

  • json-stable-stringify:

    JSON Stable Stringify ensures that the keys are always output in a consistent order, making it suitable for testing and caching scenarios.

  • json-stringify-safe:

    JSON Stringify Safe does not maintain key order and focuses on safe serialization instead.

Ease of Use

  • circular-json:

    Circular JSON is easy to use with a simple API, making it accessible for developers needing to handle circular references without complex configurations.

  • fast-json-stringify:

    Fast JSON Stringify has a straightforward API, but may require additional setup for schema definitions to achieve optimal performance.

  • fast-stable-stringify:

    Fast Stable Stringify is user-friendly, with a simple API that allows for quick implementation while ensuring key order consistency.

  • flatted:

    Flatted offers a modern API that is easy to use, making it a good choice for developers familiar with JSON serialization.

  • json-stable-stringify:

    JSON Stable Stringify is straightforward to use, but the focus on key order may require developers to consider their data structures more carefully.

  • json-stringify-safe:

    JSON Stringify Safe provides a simple API for safe serialization, making it easy to integrate into projects where circular references are a concern.

Use Cases

  • circular-json:

    Circular JSON is best suited for debugging and logging scenarios where complex objects with circular references need to be serialized without errors.

  • fast-json-stringify:

    Fast JSON Stringify is ideal for high-performance applications, such as APIs or microservices, where speed is critical and data structures are well-defined.

  • fast-stable-stringify:

    Fast Stable Stringify is perfect for applications that require consistent JSON outputs, such as testing frameworks or caching mechanisms.

  • flatted:

    Flatted is versatile and can be used in various applications, especially those that require handling complex objects with circular references.

  • json-stable-stringify:

    JSON Stable Stringify is useful in scenarios where predictable JSON output is necessary, such as versioning or comparing JSON data.

  • json-stringify-safe:

    JSON Stringify Safe is suitable for applications that need to serialize objects with potential circular references without crashing.

How to Choose: circular-json vs fast-json-stringify vs fast-stable-stringify vs flatted vs json-stable-stringify vs json-stringify-safe

  • circular-json:

    Choose Circular JSON if you need to serialize objects that may contain circular references. It allows you to safely stringify such objects without throwing errors, making it ideal for debugging or logging complex data structures.

  • fast-json-stringify:

    Opt for Fast JSON Stringify when performance is a priority. It is designed for speed and can significantly reduce serialization time, making it suitable for high-performance applications where JSON serialization is a bottleneck.

  • fast-stable-stringify:

    Select Fast Stable Stringify if you require consistent key ordering in your JSON output. This is particularly useful when the order of keys matters, such as when generating deterministic outputs for testing or caching.

  • flatted:

    Use Flatted for a balance of performance and the ability to handle circular references. It is a modern alternative that supports both serialization and deserialization of complex objects, making it versatile for various applications.

  • json-stable-stringify:

    Choose JSON Stable Stringify when you need to ensure that the output is always in a consistent order. This is useful for generating predictable JSON outputs, especially in scenarios where the output is compared or stored.

  • json-stringify-safe:

    Select JSON Stringify Safe if you want to avoid errors from circular references while still maintaining a straightforward JSON serialization process. It provides a simple API for safe stringification without additional features.

Similar Npm Packages to circular-json

circular-json is a library designed to handle the serialization and deserialization of JavaScript objects that contain circular references. Traditional JSON.stringify() cannot process objects with circular references, leading to errors. Circular-json provides a solution by allowing you to safely stringify such objects, making it easier to work with complex data structures in your applications. This can be particularly useful in scenarios like state management or when dealing with complex data models.

While circular-json offers a robust solution for circular references, there are several alternatives available that also address similar needs:

  • flatted is a modern alternative that provides a way to serialize and deserialize circular structures in JavaScript. It is designed to be lightweight and efficient, making it a great choice for applications that require handling circular references. Flatted is actively maintained and provides a simple API that is easy to integrate into existing projects. It also aims to be compatible with the JSON format, ensuring that serialized data can be easily shared across different systems.

  • json-stringify-deterministic is another alternative that focuses on generating consistent and deterministic JSON strings. This library is particularly useful when you need to ensure that the stringified output is always the same for the same input, which is essential for tasks like caching or generating unique keys. While it does not specifically handle circular references, it can be used in conjunction with other libraries that do, making it a valuable tool in your serialization toolkit.

  • json-stringify-safe is a library that provides a safe way to stringify JavaScript objects, preventing errors caused by circular references. It works similarly to circular-json but offers a straightforward API that makes it easy to use. json-stringify-safe is a good choice if you want a simple solution for avoiding circular reference errors without additional features.

To see how circular-json compares with flatted, json-stringify-deterministic, and json-stringify-safe, check out the comparison: Comparing circular-json vs flatted vs json-stringify-deterministic vs json-stringify-safe.

Similar Npm Packages to fast-json-stringify

fast-json-stringify is a high-performance JSON stringifier for Node.js applications. It is designed to be faster than the built-in JSON.stringify method by generating optimized serialization code for JavaScript objects. This makes it particularly useful for applications that require frequent JSON serialization, such as APIs or data processing tasks. fast-json-stringify supports schema-based serialization, allowing developers to define schemas for their data structures, which can lead to improved performance and consistency in the generated JSON output.

While fast-json-stringify offers significant performance benefits, there are alternatives that also provide JSON stringification capabilities. Here are a couple of notable options:

  • json-stable-stringify is a library that ensures the output of JSON.stringify is consistent and stable by sorting the keys of objects. This is particularly useful in scenarios where you need to compare JSON objects or generate consistent hashes. While it may not be as fast as fast-json-stringify, its focus on key order stability makes it a valuable tool for applications that require deterministic JSON output.
  • json-stringify-safe is another alternative that provides a safe way to stringify JavaScript objects. It prevents circular references from causing errors during the stringification process, returning a placeholder value instead. This makes json-stringify-safe a good choice for applications that may encounter complex object structures with potential circular references, ensuring that the stringification process does not crash the application.

For a detailed comparison of these packages, check out the following link: Comparing fast-json-stringify vs json-stable-stringify vs json-stringify-safe.

Similar Npm Packages to fast-stable-stringify

fast-stable-stringify is a high-performance JSON stringifier that ensures the output is stable and consistent across multiple invocations. This means that if you stringify the same object multiple times, you will get the same string output each time, which is particularly useful for caching and comparison purposes. It is designed to handle circular references and large objects efficiently, making it a great choice for applications that require reliable serialization of complex data structures.

While fast-stable-stringify is a powerful tool for JSON serialization, there are several alternatives available that offer similar functionalities:

  • circular-json is a library that allows you to serialize and deserialize JavaScript objects that contain circular references. It provides a simple API for handling circular structures, making it easier to work with complex data. However, it does not guarantee stable output, which may be a consideration depending on your use case.
  • fast-json-stringify is another high-performance JSON stringifier that focuses on speed. It is designed to be faster than the native JSON.stringify method while providing a schema-based approach for serialization. However, it does not guarantee stable output, which may limit its use in scenarios where consistent stringification is critical.
  • flatted is a library that can serialize and deserialize circular and complex objects. It provides a simple API and is designed to be compatible with the JSON format. Like circular-json, it handles circular references well but does not ensure stable output.
  • json-stable-stringify is a library that guarantees stable output by sorting object keys before stringification. This makes it suitable for scenarios where consistent stringification is necessary. However, it may not handle circular references, which could be a limitation for certain applications.
  • json-stringify-safe is a library that provides a safe way to stringify objects, preventing errors caused by circular references. It allows you to specify a replacer function and a space argument for formatting. However, it does not guarantee stable output, which may be a drawback depending on your requirements.

To see how fast-stable-stringify compares with its alternatives, check out the comparison: Comparing circular-json vs fast-json-stringify vs fast-stable-stringify vs flatted vs json-stable-stringify vs json-stringify-safe.

Similar Npm Packages to flatted

flatted is a JavaScript library designed to serialize and deserialize JavaScript objects that may contain circular references. This is particularly useful when working with complex data structures, such as trees or graphs, where references can loop back on themselves. Flatted provides a simple API that allows developers to convert these objects into a JSON-compatible format and back again, making it easier to store or transmit data without running into issues with circular references.

While flatted is a great solution for handling circular references, there are other libraries available that offer similar functionality. Here are a couple of alternatives:

  • circular-json is a library that also addresses the problem of serializing and deserializing objects with circular references. It provides a straightforward API for converting JavaScript objects to JSON and back, while handling circular references seamlessly. However, it's worth noting that circular-json has been largely superseded by flatted, which is actively maintained and offers a more modern approach to the same problem.
  • json-stringify-safe is another alternative that allows for safe serialization of JavaScript objects, including those with circular references. It works by replacing circular references with a placeholder value, allowing the serialization process to complete without throwing errors. While json-stringify-safe is effective, it may not provide the same level of fidelity in preserving the original object structure as flatted or circular-json.

To see how flatted compares with circular-json and json-stringify-safe, check out the comparison: Comparing circular-json vs flatted vs json-stringify-safe.

Similar Npm Packages to json-stable-stringify

json-stable-stringify is a library that provides a stable and predictable way to stringify JavaScript objects into JSON format. Unlike the native JSON.stringify method, which can produce different string outputs for the same object due to the order of properties, json-stable-stringify ensures that the output is consistent by sorting the object keys. This feature is particularly useful in scenarios where you need to generate consistent hashes or signatures for objects, such as in caching or data comparison.

While json-stable-stringify is a solid choice for achieving stable JSON stringification, there are alternatives available in the ecosystem. One notable alternative is:

  • json-stable-stringify-without-jsonify is a variation of the original json-stable-stringify library that omits the dependency on the jsonify library. This makes it a lightweight option for developers who want to achieve stable stringification without additional overhead. It retains the core functionality of sorting object keys to ensure consistent output, making it suitable for similar use cases where stability in JSON representation is required.

For a detailed comparison of these two packages, you can visit: Comparing json-stable-stringify vs json-stable-stringify-without-jsonify.

Similar Npm Packages to json-stringify-safe

json-stringify-safe is a JavaScript library that provides a safe way to stringify JavaScript objects, especially those that may contain circular references. When using the native JSON.stringify method, circular references can lead to errors, but json-stringify-safe handles these cases gracefully by replacing circular references with a specified placeholder. This makes it an essential tool for logging, debugging, or transmitting complex objects without running into issues caused by circular references.

While json-stringify-safe is a great option, there are other libraries available that also address the challenges of stringifying objects with circular references. Here are a couple of alternatives:

  • circular-json is a library designed to serialize and deserialize JavaScript objects that may contain circular references. It extends the functionality of JSON.stringify and JSON.parse to handle circular structures, allowing developers to easily work with complex data without worrying about errors. However, it's worth noting that circular-json has been deprecated in favor of other solutions, so while it may still be used in some projects, it is generally recommended to consider more modern alternatives.

  • flatted is a more recent library that provides similar functionality to circular-json, allowing for the serialization and deserialization of objects with circular references. It is designed to be a drop-in replacement for JSON.stringify and JSON.parse, making it easy to integrate into existing projects. flatted is actively maintained and offers a more modern approach to handling circular references, making it a suitable alternative to both json-stringify-safe and circular-json.

To compare these packages further, check out the following link: Comparing circular-json vs flatted vs json-stringify-safe.

README for circular-json

CircularJSON

donate Downloads Build Status Coverage Status

Serializes and deserializes otherwise valid JSON objects containing circular references into and from a specialized JSON format.

The future of this module is called flatted

Smaller, faster, and able to produce on average a reduced output too, flatted is the new, bloatless, ESM and CJS compatible, circular JSON parser.

It has now reached V1 and it implements the exact same JSON API.

Please note CircularJSON is in maintenance only and flatted is its successor.

A Working Solution To A Common Problem

A usage example:

var object = {};
object.arr = [
  object, object
];
object.arr.push(object.arr);
object.obj = object;

var serialized = CircularJSON.stringify(object);
// '{"arr":["~","~","~arr"],"obj":"~"}'
// NOTE: CircularJSON DOES NOT parse JS
// it handles receiver and reviver callbacks

var unserialized = CircularJSON.parse(serialized);
// { arr: [ [Circular], [Circular] ],
// obj: [Circular] }

unserialized.obj === unserialized;
unserialized.arr[0] === unserialized;
unserialized.arr.pop() === unserialized.arr;

A quick summary:

  • new in version 0.5, you can specify a JSON parser different from JSON itself. CircularJSON.parser = ABetterJSON; is all you need.
  • uses ~ as a special prefix symbol to denote which parent the reference belongs to (i.e. ~root~child1~child2)
  • reasonably fast in both serialization and deserialization
  • compact serialization for easier and slimmer transportation across environments
  • tested and covered over nasty structures too
  • compatible with all JavaScript engines

Node Installation & Usage

npm install --save circular-json

'use strict';

var
  CircularJSON = require('circular-json'),
  obj = { foo: 'bar' },
  str
;
  
obj.self = obj;
str = CircularJSON.stringify(obj);

There are no dependencies.

Browser Installation & Usage

  • Global: <build/circular-json.js>
  • AMD: <build/circular-json.amd.js>
  • CommonJS: <build/circular-json.node.js>

(generated via gitstrap)

<script src="build/circular-json.js"></script>

'use strict';

var CircularJSON = window.CircularJSON
  , obj = { foo: 'bar' }
  , str
  ;
  
obj.self = obj;
str = CircularJSON.stringify(obj);

NOTE: Platforms without native JSON (i.e. MSIE <= 8) requires json3.js or similar.

It is also a bad idea to CircularJSON.parse(JSON.stringify(object)) because of those manipulation used in CircularJSON.stringify() able to make parsing safe and secure.

As summary: CircularJSON.parse(CircularJSON.stringify(object)) is the way to go, same is for JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(object)).

API

It's the same as native JSON, except the fourth parameter placeholder, which circular references to be replaced with "[Circular]" (i.e. for logging).

  • CircularJSON.stringify(object, replacer, spacer, placeholder)
  • CircularJSON.parse(string, reviver)

Bear in mind JSON.parse(CircularJSON.stringify(object)) will work but not produce the expected output.

Similar Libraries

Why Not the @izs One

The module json-stringify-safe seems to be for console.log() but it's completely pointless for JSON.parse(), being latter one unable to retrieve back the initial structure. Here an example:

// a logged object with circular references
{
  "circularRef": "[Circular]",
  "list": [
    "[Circular]",
    "[Circular]"
  ]
}
// what do we do with above output ?

Just type this in your node console: var o = {}; o.a = o; console.log(o);. The output will be { a: [Circular] } ... good, but that ain't really solving the problem.

However, if that's all you need, the function used to create that kind of output is probably faster than CircularJSON and surely fits in less lines of code.

Why Not {{put random name}} Solution

So here the thing: circular references can be wrong but, if there is a need for them, any attempt to ignore them or remove them can be considered just a failure.

Not because the method is bad or it's not working, simply because the circular info, the one we needed and used in the first place, is lost!

In this case, CircularJSON does even more than just solve circular and recursions: it maps all same objects so that less memory is used as well on deserialization as less bandwidth too! It's able to redefine those references back later on so the way we store is the way we retrieve and in a reasonably performant way, also trusting the snappy and native JSON methods to iterate.

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