flatted vs json-stringify-safe vs circular-json
JSON Serialization Libraries Comparison
Search packages..
1 Year
flattedjson-stringify-safecircular-jsonSimilar Packages:
What's JSON Serialization Libraries?

JSON serialization libraries are essential tools in web development that allow developers to convert JavaScript objects into JSON format and vice versa. These libraries address the limitations of the native JSON methods, particularly when dealing with complex data structures such as circular references, which can lead to errors during serialization. Each of these libraries provides unique features to handle specific serialization challenges, making them valuable for various use cases in data handling and storage.

NPM Package Downloads Trend
Github Stars Ranking
Stat Detail
Package
Downloads
Stars
Size
Issues
Publish
License
flatted40,753,1241,05533.5 kB22 months agoISC
json-stringify-safe22,960,270552-710 years agoISC
circular-json1,178,085606-06 years agoMIT
Feature Comparison: flatted vs json-stringify-safe vs circular-json

Circular Reference Handling

  • flatted:

    Flatted efficiently handles circular references by using a unique identifier for each object, allowing for the reconstruction of the original object structure during deserialization. This method is both memory-efficient and fast, making it suitable for performance-critical applications.

  • json-stringify-safe:

    json-stringify-safe prevents errors caused by circular references by replacing them with a string '[Circular]' during serialization. This approach allows for safe logging and debugging without crashing the application, although it may not fully reconstruct the original object structure.

  • circular-json:

    Circular JSON provides a simple way to serialize objects that contain circular references by replacing circular references with a placeholder. This allows for the serialization of complex object graphs without throwing errors, making it ideal for applications that frequently deal with such structures.

Performance

  • flatted:

    Flatted is designed for speed and efficiency, making it one of the fastest options for handling circular references. Its lightweight implementation ensures minimal overhead, which is beneficial for applications that require high performance during serialization and deserialization processes.

  • json-stringify-safe:

    json-stringify-safe offers reasonable performance for most use cases, but it may not be as fast as Flatted. Its focus is on safety and compatibility rather than raw speed, making it suitable for applications where stability is more critical than performance.

  • circular-json:

    Circular JSON is relatively fast for serialization and deserialization, but its performance may degrade with highly nested or complex objects due to the overhead of managing circular references. It is generally suitable for most applications but may not be the best choice for performance-critical scenarios.

API Simplicity

  • flatted:

    Flatted provides a clean and modern API that is easy to use, making it accessible for developers of all skill levels. Its design encourages straightforward integration into existing projects, allowing for quick adoption without significant changes to the codebase.

  • json-stringify-safe:

    json-stringify-safe offers a familiar API for developers already accustomed to JSON serialization. Its method names and usage patterns are similar to native JSON methods, facilitating a smooth transition for developers looking to enhance their serialization capabilities.

  • circular-json:

    Circular JSON has a straightforward API that closely resembles the native JSON methods, making it easy to integrate into existing codebases. This simplicity allows developers to adopt it quickly without a steep learning curve, which is beneficial for rapid development cycles.

Use Cases

  • flatted:

    Flatted is ideal for modern web applications that require efficient serialization of complex data structures, especially in performance-sensitive environments like real-time applications or large-scale data processing tasks. Its lightweight nature makes it a strong candidate for these use cases.

  • json-stringify-safe:

    json-stringify-safe is particularly useful for logging and debugging applications where complex objects need to be serialized without causing crashes. It is also suitable for scenarios where data integrity is essential, and developers want to avoid losing information during serialization.

  • circular-json:

    Circular JSON is best suited for applications that frequently handle complex object graphs, such as data models in web applications or APIs that return nested structures. Its ability to serialize circular references makes it a go-to choice for such scenarios.

Community and Maintenance

  • flatted:

    Flatted is a newer library with a growing community, and its active maintenance ensures that it adapts to modern JavaScript standards. Its focus on performance and efficiency is likely to attract more users, contributing to its ongoing development.

  • json-stringify-safe:

    json-stringify-safe has been around for a while and has a solid user base. Its maintenance is consistent, and it is widely used in various applications, providing a level of trust and reliability for developers.

  • circular-json:

    Circular JSON has a stable community and is maintained actively, ensuring that it stays up-to-date with the latest JavaScript features and best practices. This level of maintenance provides confidence for developers looking for reliable libraries.

How to Choose: flatted vs json-stringify-safe vs circular-json
  • flatted:

    Opt for Flatted if you want a modern and efficient solution for serializing and deserializing objects with circular references. Flatted is designed to be lightweight and fast, making it suitable for performance-sensitive applications. It also has a simple API that can be easily integrated into existing codebases.

  • json-stringify-safe:

    Select json-stringify-safe if you need a robust solution that prevents errors during serialization of objects with circular references while maintaining compatibility with standard JSON serialization. It is particularly useful for logging and debugging scenarios where you want to serialize complex objects without crashing the application.

  • circular-json:

    Choose Circular JSON if you need to serialize and deserialize objects with circular references easily. It is straightforward to use and integrates seamlessly with existing JSON methods, making it a good choice for projects that require handling complex object graphs.

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-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.

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.

README for flatted

flatted

Downloads Coverage Status Build Status License: ISC WebReflection status

snow flake

Social Media Photo by Matt Seymour on Unsplash

A super light (0.5K) and fast circular JSON parser, directly from the creator of CircularJSON.

Available also for PHP.

Available also for Python.

Announcement 📣

There is a standard approach to recursion and more data-types than what JSON allows, and it's part of the Structured Clone polyfill.

Beside acting as a polyfill, its @ungap/structured-clone/json export provides both stringify and parse, and it's been tested for being faster than flatted, but its produced output is also smaller than flatted in general.

The @ungap/structured-clone module is, in short, a drop in replacement for flatted, but it's not compatible with flatted specialized syntax.

However, if recursion, as well as more data-types, are what you are after, or interesting for your projects/use cases, consider switching to this new module whenever you can 👍

npm i flatted

Usable via CDN or as regular module.

// ESM
import {parse, stringify, toJSON, fromJSON} from 'flatted';

// CJS
const {parse, stringify, toJSON, fromJSON} = require('flatted');

const a = [{}];
a[0].a = a;
a.push(a);

stringify(a); // [["1","0"],{"a":"0"}]

toJSON and fromJSON

If you'd like to implicitly survive JSON serialization, these two helpers helps:

import {toJSON, fromJSON} from 'flatted';

class RecursiveMap extends Map {
  static fromJSON(any) {
    return new this(fromJSON(any));
  }
  toJSON() {
    return toJSON([...this.entries()]);
  }
}

const recursive = new RecursiveMap;
const same = {};
same.same = same;
recursive.set('same', same);

const asString = JSON.stringify(recursive);
const asMap = RecursiveMap.fromJSON(JSON.parse(asString));
asMap.get('same') === asMap.get('same').same;
// true

Flatted VS JSON

As it is for every other specialized format capable of serializing and deserializing circular data, you should never JSON.parse(Flatted.stringify(data)), and you should never Flatted.parse(JSON.stringify(data)).

The only way this could work is to Flatted.parse(Flatted.stringify(data)), as it is also for CircularJSON or any other, otherwise there's no granted data integrity.

Also please note this project serializes and deserializes only data compatible with JSON, so that sockets, or anything else with internal classes different from those allowed by JSON standard, won't be serialized and unserialized as expected.

New in V1: Exact same JSON API

  • Added a reviver parameter to .parse(string, reviver) and revive your own objects.
  • Added a replacer and a space parameter to .stringify(object, replacer, space) for feature parity with JSON signature.

Compatibility

All ECMAScript engines compatible with Map, Set, Object.keys, and Array.prototype.reduce will work, even if polyfilled.

How does it work ?

While stringifying, all Objects, including Arrays, and strings, are flattened out and replaced as unique index. *

Once parsed, all indexes will be replaced through the flattened collection.

* represented as string to avoid conflicts with numbers

// logic example
var a = [{one: 1}, {two: '2'}];
a[0].a = a;
// a is the main object, will be at index '0'
// {one: 1} is the second object, index '1'
// {two: '2'} the third, in '2', and it has a string
// which will be found at index '3'

Flatted.stringify(a);
// [["1","2"],{"one":1,"a":"0"},{"two":"3"},"2"]
// a[one,two]    {one: 1, a}    {two: '2'}  '2'
Product Hunt - Vote for us 🧡JSON to TypeScriptJavaScript CopilotChatTerms & Privacy