xerxes: JSON that can insert source code.


John Larson

2014-06-27


Xerxes is a Javascript library that extends the functionality of
JSON.stringify. In addition to converting JSON-compatible data types into
JSON, it allows you to replace any value in the resulting JSON document
into source code. It uses a very slightly modified version of JSON.stringify
from Douglas Crocket's json2.js library.


xerxes.js: The source code.

xerxes.min.js: A minified version for deployment, made using:
http://fmarcia.info/jsmin/test.html

Here is a list of similar libraries:

cycle.js: contains extra functions for storing and parsing cyclical
structures in JSON. Made by Douglas Crockford, to be used alongside
JSON. included in https://github.com/douglascrockford/JSON-js

toSource.js: a polyfill for EMCA Script's toSource function, which
is currently only implemented by Firefox. One pitfall is that the
source code will sometimes contain "[native code]", which cannot be parsed
by a browser. This can cause difficulty, because the function takes no
parameters, so the process is not customizable. Also, there are limitations
with cyclical references. Work in progress.
https://github.com/oliver-moran/toSource.js

HydrateJS: Maintains information about what the object is an instance of.
Also deals with circular references and with some of the issues in JSON with
object references. Can't serialize functions and can't serialize the
constructor property. https://github.com/nanodeath/HydrateJS

ResurrectJS: This one has some VERY exciting improvements on HydrateJS, but
may not always be the better choice of the two, as they have different
philosophies. It deals very well with cyclical references and multiple
references to the same object. It also maintains information about objects'
prototypes. It is very customizable, and the fact that you
instantiate a resurrect object allows you to easily manage multiple types
of customized serialization in the same project. It also supports data types
that JSON doesn't, such as dates and regular expressions. However,
all constructors must have a global function name attached to them, as
RessurectJS cannot serialize anonymous functions.
https://github.com/skeeto/resurrect-js

If you have any questions, comments, etc., email me at john.robert.larson@gmail.com