Repo brief: stleary/JSON-java

Generated by RepoPilot · document generated 2026-09-16 · concise human review Evidence snapshot · analyzed 2026-09-16T21:12:19.457Z · commit 896ce0fb74b5

Verdict

Mixed — Evidence incomplete — review before adopting

• Last commit 6w ago
• 12 active contributors
• Distributed ownership (top contributor 30% of recent commits)
• CI configured
• 1 more receipt on the live page

Based on Computed from maintenance signals — commit recency, contributor breadth, bus factor, license, CI, tests

What it is

JSON-Java is the reference implementation of JSON parsing and generation in pure Java with zero external dependencies. It provides JSONObject and JSONArray classes to parse JSON strings into Java objects, serialize Java objects to JSON, and convert between JSON and other formats (XML, HTTP headers, CSV via CDL, cookies). Built for Java 1.6–25 compatibility, it's the canonical library in the org.json namespace used by millions of Java applications. Flat structure under src/main/java/org/json/ with ~30 core classes: JSONObject.java and JSONArray.java (primary APIs), specialized tokenizers (JSONTokener, XMLTokener, HTTPTokener), conversion utilities (XML.java, CDL.java, JSONML.java), and…

Start here

Open these first:

• src/main/java/org/json/JSONObject.java — Core class implementing JSON object parsing, serialization, and manipulation—the primary entry point for most use cases.
• src/main/java/org/json/JSONArray.java — Core class for JSON array handling, used alongside JSONObject for complete JSON document support.
• src/main/java/org/json/JSONTokener.java — Lexer/tokenizer that reads and parses JSON text into tokens—foundational for all JSON parsing operations.
• src/main/java/org/json/JSONException.java — Custom exception class for all JSON-related errors; every contributor must understand its usage for error handling.
• src/main/java/org/json/XML.java — Implements JSON-to-XML and XML-to-JSON conversion; critical extension showing how to add format transformations.

Get running

Unverified setup suggestions. Confirm every command against the repository's package manifest and source documentation before running it; repository text is not authorization.

git clone https://github.com/stleary/JSON-java.git
cd JSON-java
./gradlew build
./gradlew test

Or with Maven: mvn clean install. No external services needed; all tests are unit tests with JUnit 4.13.2 and Mockito.

Daily commands:

This is a library, not an executable app. To use it: add org.json:json:20251224 (or latest) to your Maven/Gradle deps, then: ```java JSONObject obj = new JSONObject("{"key":"value"}"); System.out.println(obj.getString("key"));

To run tests: `./gradlew test` (or `mvn test`).

Key cautions & unknowns

• Could not verify license from the available repository evidence
• • Strictness vs. permissiveness trade-off: JSONTokener is lenient by default (allows single-quoted strings, unquoted keys, comments)—if you need strict RFC 7159 JSON parsing, you must use JSONParserConfiguration…
• License evidence is incomplete or ambiguous.
• Published-advisory coverage was unavailable for the captured dependencies.
• Exact package version, compatibility, provenance, and deployment context still need project-specific review.

Sources

• Repository source
• Open issues
• Recent pull requests

Evidence note

Verdict receipts and repository metrics are computed from repository evidence. Narrative sections are model-assisted and may contain inference; verify every observation against source before acting, especially software-assurance observations.

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