CODEWITHSUNDEEP
jsonasp.net-mvc-4
user2067567
user2067567

Reputation: 3803

Newtonsoft JSON

I have created a New MVC4 Application and by default Newton JSON added to the Package.

I read that it is useful for serializing and deserializing JSON. Is this all it does ?

By default we can send JSON in MVC using JSONResult. and using Stringify in JQuery i can receive as a class in C#.

I know there should be some reason why they added Newton JSON.

As i am new to MVC and starting off new project want to know some insight of which serialize/deserialize to go for ?

Thanks

Upvotes: 6

Views: 12273

Answers (3)

rism
rism

Reputation: 12142

If your project was just an MVC project with no WebApi, then Newtonsoft.Json was not added for returning JsonResults as the JsonResult returned by MVC uses the JavaScriptSerializer as below:

 public override void ExecuteResult(ControllerContext context)
        {
            if (context == null)
            {
                throw new ArgumentNullException("context");
            }
            if (JsonRequestBehavior == JsonRequestBehavior.DenyGet &&
                String.Equals(context.HttpContext.Request.HttpMethod, "GET", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
            {
                throw new InvalidOperationException(MvcResources.JsonRequest_GetNotAllowed);
            }

            HttpResponseBase response = context.HttpContext.Response;

            if (!String.IsNullOrEmpty(ContentType))
            {
                response.ContentType = ContentType;
            }
            else
            {
                response.ContentType = "application/json";
            }
            if (ContentEncoding != null)
            {
                response.ContentEncoding = ContentEncoding;
            }
            if (Data != null)
            {
                JavaScriptSerializer serializer = new JavaScriptSerializer();
                if (MaxJsonLength.HasValue)
                {
                    serializer.MaxJsonLength = MaxJsonLength.Value;
                }
                if (RecursionLimit.HasValue)
                {
                    serializer.RecursionLimit = RecursionLimit.Value;
                }
                response.Write(serializer.Serialize(Data));
            }
        }

In this case it was added because WebGrease has a dependency on it. And the bundling and minification services provided by MVC in System.Web.Optimization have a dependency on WebGrease.

So a default MVC app with no WebApi will have Newtonsoft.Json installed for bundling and minification services not WebApi.

To be clear the JsonResult returned by WebApi in System.Web.Http does use Newtonsoft.Json for it's serialization as below:

using Newtonsoft.Json;
using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Net;
using System.Net.Http;
using System.Net.Http.Headers;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using System.Web.Http;

namespace System.Web.Http.Results
{
  /// <summary>
  /// Represents an action result that returns an <see cref="F:System.Net.HttpStatusCode.OK"/> response with JSON data.
  /// </summary>
  /// <typeparam name="T">The type of content in the entity body.</typeparam>
  public class JsonResult<T> : IHttpActionResult

But Newtonsoft.Json is not included in a non WebApi, default MVC project just in case you might decide to use some WebApi, it's there because, as above, WebGrease needs it. Not sure what they're doing in vNext, probably Newtonsoft.Json.

Upvotes: 0

Rob G
Rob G

Reputation: 3526

Use JsonResult and return Json(yourObject) on a post operation, or Json(yourObject, JsonRequestBehavior.AllowGet) if you're doing a GET operation.

If you want to deserialize Json with the Newton Json.NET, check out http://www.hanselman.com/blog/NuGetPackageOfTheWeek4DeserializingJSONWithJsonNET.aspx

Upvotes: 0

von v.
von v.

Reputation: 17118

They added Newtonsoft so that your WebAPI controller can magically serialize your returned object. In MVC 3 we used to return our object like so:

public ActionResult GetPerson(int id)
{
    var person = _personRepo.Get(id);
    return Json(person);
}

In a Web API project you can return person and it will be serialized for you:

public Person GetPerson(int id)
{
    var person = _personRepo.Get(id);
    return person
}

Upvotes: 6

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