JSON
JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) is a lightweight, text-based data interchange format that is easy for humans to read and write and for machines to parse and generate. It is derived from JavaScript but is language-independent, making it widely used for transmitting data between a server and web application, as well as for configuration files and APIs. JSON structures data as key-value pairs and arrays, supporting strings, numbers, booleans, null, objects, and arrays.
Developers should learn JSON because it is the de facto standard for data exchange in web development, particularly in RESTful APIs, where it is used to serialize and transmit structured data between clients and servers. It is essential for working with modern web services, mobile apps, and configuration management, as it is supported by virtually all programming languages and tools, offering a simple and efficient way to handle data without the complexity of XML.