It’s normal for developers to work with JSON data when working with Node.js. This is because JSON is easy to read and write. However, it can cause problems, negatively affecting your app’s response time. So, it needs to be free from line breaks, spaces and other potential issues.
This is when you have been advised to minify JSON data. In this blog post, I’ll talk about it in detail so you don’t have any doubts left.
What Does It Mean to Minify JSON?
Minifying JSON data means getting rid of all the useless characters such as extra spaces, line breaks, and tabs. But it doesn’t mean that it will affect the working of your app. It will keep working the way it was working before but with improved speed and efficiency. Let’s understand this through an example:
Unminified JSON:
{
“name”: “Maddy”,
“role”: “Writer”,
“skills”: [“content”, “editing”, “blogging”]
}
Minified JSON:
{“name”:”Maddy”,”role”:”Writer”,”skills”:[“content”,”editing”,”blogging”]}
As you can see in the above example, both unminified and minified JSON versions contain the same info. But the minified version is free from unnecessary characters and will take up less space.
Why You Need to Minify JSON
There are many reasons why you should consider minifying JSON. Let’s discuss the most prominent advantages:
Improves Loading Speed
It’s obvious that when JSON data is smaller, it will take less time to load. You might have an API sending data to the client, or your Node.js application may need to read configuration files, a minified JSON file will help ensure that less time is spent reading or transferring data.
This may not offer a visible difference for small files. But it will definitely show a significant improvement in loading speed when you are processing thousands of requests at once. Those small time savings will add up and show a substantial difference.
Saves Bandwidth
This is another major benefit of minifying JSON. If your Node.js app has to communicate with other services and APIs, unminified JSON will use more bandwidth. This leads to additional costs.
Minifying JSON can go a long way toward reducing bandwidth usage. Your network communication will be faster, which is helpful for applications that process frequent API calls or cater to server users on poor internet connections. It will also make a big difference for mobile users or systems with slow network speed.
Reduces Storage Space
Every unnecessary space or newline takes up a bit of disk space. Over time, especially with logs, configurations, or cached data, this adds up. Minified JSON helps you store the same amount of information using less space.
This is especially useful if you’re using JSON to store large datasets or caching responses in your Node.js app.
Speeds Up Parsing
When your app reads JSON, it has to parse it before using it. The smaller the file, the faster it can parse. Even though the difference might be tiny per file, performance improvements become noticeable in high-traffic or data-heavy applications.
How to Minify JSON in Node.js
There are a few ways to minify JSON. Let’s go over some simple options.
Option 1: Use Built-in JavaScript Methods
Node.js already supports JSON parsing and stringifying. You can use JSON.stringify() to minify JSON automatically.
Here’s an example:
const fs = require(‘fs’);
// Read JSON file
const data = fs.readFileSync(‘data.json’, ‘utf8’);
const json = JSON.parse(data);
// Minify JSON
const minified = JSON.stringify(json);
// Save the minified version
fs.writeFileSync(‘data.min.json’, minified);
console.log(‘JSON has been minified and saved!’);
By default, JSON.stringify() removes spaces and line breaks, giving you a compact version.
Option 2: Use npm packages
You can use exclusive npm packages for more complex scenarios. For example, minifying JSON with comments.
jsonminify
This method is about minifying JSON files that have those JavaScript-style comments ( like // and /**/ ones). Standard JSON doesn’t allow these comments.
Here’s how to do it:
Install the package:
npm install jsonminify
Use this in your code:
const jsonminify = require(“jsonminify”);
// This JSON string contains a comment, which is invalid for standard parsers
const commentedJson = `{
“name”: “John Doe”,
“email”: “[email protected]”, // This is a single-line comment
“active”: true
}`;
// Minify the JSON and remove the comment
const minifiedJson = jsonminify(commentedJson);
console.log(minifiedJson);
// Output: {“name”:”John Doe”,”email”:”[email protected]”,”active”:true}
minijson
With this method, you can deal with comments and this is also pretty quick in minifying JSON strings and files.
Here’s how you can do it:
Install the package:
npm install minijson
Use this in your code:
const { minifyString } = require(“minijson”);
// Minify a standard JSON string
const jsonString = `{“key”:”value”}`;
const minifiedString = minifyString(jsonString);
console.log(minifiedString);
// Output: {“key”:”value”}
// Minify a JSON string with comments
const commentedString = `{“key”:”value”}// comment`;
const minifiedStringWithComments = minifyString(commentedString, true);
console.log(minifiedStringWithComments);
// Output: {“key”:”value”}
Option 3: Use a JSON Minify Tool
Another quick and easy way to clean up your JSON code is to run it through JSON Minify. It’s a simple and efficient tool that removes comments, whitespace, and extra characters from your JSON data while keeping it valid.
Fortunately, it offers free and quick access. All you need to do is insert your JSON file into the tool and it will take a few seconds to provide you with a minified version. Let’s have a demo of this. I’ll insert any random JSON data with unnecessary characters into the tool to see how it goes.
Here’s how the tool responded to my provided input:
The tool worked smartly. So, this method is quick and efficient for minifying your JSON files.
When You Should (and Shouldn’t) Minify JSON
Always minify JSON when sending it over the network or when storing it for production. It makes your app remain speedy and efficient.
However, you may put off minifying JSON when you are developing or testing an application because this is when frequent editing and reading are needed. But always minify it prior to deployment.
Wrapping Up
Minifying JSON is an easy process that can make your Node.js applications execute faster, consume less storage, and load data more efficiently. It doesn’t alter your data. It just makes it lighter.
If you’re dealing with many JSON files or API responses, tools such as JSON Minify make the process a breeze. You’ll experience improved performance, reduced file size, and smoother data handling throughout your app.
A few lines of code can make a big impact. So before your next deployment, take a minute and minify your JSON; it’s a small change with a huge payoff.
