为什么ajax请求中的JSON或为什么不

Question

I want to know when will it be reasonable to pull data from a php page via ajax in form of json array.. Suppose I have this code :

$.ajax({
    type: "get",
    url: "assets/update_cart_user_fstore.php",
    data: up,
    cache: false,
    success: function(r){
            $(#item).html(r);
    },
});

and in PHP page I am echoing a variable

$hello = "I am code!";
echo $hello;

And with JSON

$.ajax({
    type: "get",
    url: "assets/update_cart_user_fstore.php",
    data: up,
    cache: false,
    success: function(r){
        var obj = jQuery.parseJSON(r);
        $('#item').html(obj.code);
    },
});

and in PHP I'm echoing the JSON array

$hello = "I am code!";
$response = array();
$response['code'] = $hello;
echo json_encode($response);

Now I know that in case of echoing more than 1 variable JSON is appropriate...But is it necessary here? And am I using JSON properly..?

Please explain..

Answer 1

Is it necessary in this case? No, it isn't.

But using JSON has some advantages, for example

• Your data has a strict, standardized structure. This means, less chance for errors.
• You can scale it better.
• You can debug it easier. For example, Tools like Firebug support JSON

Two good articles, which will go into more detail:

1. http://www.revillweb.com/articles/why-use-json/
2. http://blog.programmableweb.com/2013/11/07/xml-vs-json-a-primer/

I've rarely found a use case where I wouldn't prefer JSON.