The Language Every App Speaks — JSON

⏱️ Before You Watch (5 mins)

Today's Secret: Whether it's a tweet, a bank balance, or a weather report, almost ALL data on the internet travels in one format: JSON. If you can read JSON, you can read the internet's mind.

What you should have ready:

• Your code editor open
• A text file ready to be typed

🧠 Quick Concepts

🤔 Think About

Before watching, consider:

1. How does Spotify send a playlist to your phone? It sends a list of song titles, artists, and links. That list is JSON.
2. It looks like this: { "song": "Hello", "artist": "Adele" }

🎯 By the End

After this episode, you'll:

• ✅ Read and write JSON fluently
• ✅ Create a config.json file for your game
• ✅ Change your game settings without touching the code!

Let's speak the language of data! 💬

📝 What We Learned

• JSON is just text formatted in a specific way.
• Universal: Python, Java, JavaScript, Go — all languages can read JSON.
• Structure:
  • Curly braces {} hold Objects (things).
  • Square brackets [] hold Arrays (lists).
  • Key-Value pairs "key": "value" hold data.
• Use Case: We moved our game settings (speed, color) into config.json so non-coders can change them!

🔗 Key Code Snippet

config.json

{
  "gameName": "Super Snake",
  "speed": 10,
  "colors": ["#FF0000", "#00FF00"],
  "is3D": true
}

✅ Checklist

• I created a config.json file
• I wrote valid JSON (no trailing commas!)
• I loaded the JSON into my game
• I changed a setting in JSON and saw it update in the game

🧪 Quick Quiz

Q1: What does JSON stand for?

• A) Java Super Online Network
• B) JavaScript Object Notation ✓
• C) Just Some Other Notes

Q2: Which symbol starts an Array (list)?

• A) {
• B) (
• C) [ ✓

Q3: Why use JSON for settings?

• A) It's faster to type
• B) Humans and computers can both read it ✓
• C) It's colorful

🚀 Bonus Challenge

Add a "cheatMode": true setting to your JSON. Use AI to make the snake invincible if that setting is true!

🔜 Next Episode

Episode 9: How Apps Talk — APIs Revealed

You'll learn: How to use JSON to fetch real data (like weather) from other computers.

You speak the universal language now! 🗣️