JSON vs OCON (Objective-C Object Notation)

I’m here to propose another alternative to JSON, Messagepack, Protobuf, and all those other data-transfer formats which are, frankly, about to be made redundant by the introduction of a elegant, concise, and eminently readable format called OSON: Objective-C Object Notation (pronouced O-son).

Here’s an example piece of JSON from their website, quite an ugly piece of work isn’t it?

{"menu": {
  "id": "file",
  "value": "File",
  "popup": {
    "menuitem": [
      {"value": "New", "onclick": "CreateNewDoc()"},
      {"value": "Open", "onclick": "OpenDoc()"},
      {"value": "Close", "onclick": "CloseDoc()"}
    ]
  }
}}

Now, let me fix that for you:

[NSDictionary dictionaryWithObjectsAndKeys:
    [NSDictionary dictionaryWithObjectsAndKeys:
        @"file", @"id",
        @"File", @"value",
        [NSDictionary dictionaryWithObjectsAndKeys:
            [NSArray arrayWithObjects:
                [NSDictionary dictionaryWithObjectsAndKeys:
                    @"New", @"value",
                    @"CreateNewDoc()", @"onclick", nil],
                [NSDictionary dictionaryWithObjectsAndKeys:
                    @"Open", @"value",
                    @"OpenDoc()", @"onclick", nil],
                [NSDictionary dictionaryWithObjectsAndKeys:
                    @"Close", @"value",
                    @"CloseDoc()", @"onclick", nil],
                nil],
            @"menuitem", nil],
        @"popup", nil],
    @"menu", nil];

Much better! ;)

Thanks for reading! And if you want to get in touch, I'd love to hear from you: chris.hulbert at gmail.

Chris Hulbert

(Comp Sci, Hons - UTS)

Software Developer (Freelancer / Contractor) in Australia.

I have worked at places such as Google, Cochlear, Assembly Payments, News Corp, Fox Sports, NineMSN, FetchTV, Coles, Woolworths, Trust Bank, and Westpac, among others. If you're looking for help developing an iOS app, drop me a line!

Get in touch:
[email protected]
github.com/chrishulbert
linkedin

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