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Json scheme: why and who needs it

Published in the Random EN group
Hello, wanderer. Today I want to tell you about a little magic. You've probably already heard about json. This is such a universal language: it is understood by machines and easily read by humans. Here is a typical example of a json message: 
{
   "помещение":{
      "название":"избушка",
      "разумна":true
   },
   "основание":{
      "тип":"курьи ноги",
      "количество":2
   },
   "проживающие":[
      {
         "Name":"Баба Яга",
         "профиль":"ведьма"
      }
   ],
   "местоположение":{
      "address":"граница леса"
   }
}
It’s convenient to communicate like that, isn’t it? If you didn’t know what json was before, now you do. How to use this in java code? Json has become a universal format. It stands for JavaScript Object Notation, but has long gone beyond javascript and is used almost everywhere. Java has several libraries that make working with json easier. Here are the most famous: I'll use the second one. There are 2 versions of them : codehaus and fasterxml , I didn’t notice any differences in them, so you can use any one here. Here's a piece of code: 
ObjectMapper mapper = new ObjectMapper();
return mapper.readValue("сюда json", "сюда класс");
will help translate json into an object. And we are approaching the most important thing. Writing a class for this json. You can do this manually, create a structure something like this: 
-----------------------------------com.fairytale.Base.java-----------------------------------

package com.fairytale;

import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonInclude;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonProperty;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonPropertyOrder;


@JsonInclude(JsonInclude.Include.NON_NULL)
@JsonPropertyOrder({
"type",
"quantity"
})
public class Base {

@JsonProperty("type")
public String type = "";
@JsonProperty("quantity")
public int quantity = 0;

}
-----------------------------------com.fairytale.Hut.java-----------------------------------

package com.fairytale;

import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.List;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonInclude;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonProperty;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonPropertyOrder;


@JsonInclude(JsonInclude.Include.NON_NULL)
@JsonPropertyOrder({
"room",
"base",
"residents",
"location"
})
public class Hut {

@JsonProperty("room")
public Room room;
@JsonProperty("base")
public Base base;
@JsonProperty("residents")
public List<Resident> residents = new ArrayList<Resident>();
@JsonProperty("location")
public Location location;

}
-----------------------------------com.fairytale.Location.java-----------------------------------

package com.fairytale;

import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonInclude;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonProperty;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonPropertyOrder;


@JsonInclude(JsonInclude.Include.NON_NULL)
@JsonPropertyOrder({
"address"
})
public class Location {

@JsonProperty("address")
public String address = "";

}
-----------------------------------com.fairytale.Resident.java-----------------------------------

package com.fairytale;

import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonInclude;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonProperty;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonPropertyOrder;


@JsonInclude(JsonInclude.Include.NON_NULL)
@JsonPropertyOrder({
"name",
"profile"
})
public class Resident {

@JsonProperty("name")
public String name = "";
@JsonProperty("profile")
public String profile = "";

}
-----------------------------------com.fairytale.Room.java-----------------------------------

package com.fairytale;

import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonInclude;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonProperty;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonPropertyOrder;

@JsonInclude(JsonInclude.Include.NON_NULL)
@JsonPropertyOrder({
"name",
"reasonable"
})
public class Room {

@JsonProperty("name")
public String name = "";
@JsonProperty("reasonable")
public boolean reasonable = false;

}
Java-университет
I specifically omitted getters, setters, constructors and other pojo attributes, otherwise you would get tired of wasting =) Now look here: 
{
  "definitions": {},
  "$schema": "http://json-schema.org/draft-07/schema#",
  "$id": "http://example.com/root.json",
  "type": "object",
  "title": "The Root Schema",
  "required": [
    "room",
    "base",
    "residents",
    "location"
  ],
  "properties": {
    "room": {
      "$id": "#/properties/room",
      "type": "object",
      "title": "The Room Schema",
      "required": [
        "name",
        "reasonable"
      ],
      "properties": {
        "name": {
          "$id": "#/properties/room/properties/name",
          "type": "string",
          "title": "The Name Schema",
          "default": "",
          "examples": [
            "избушка"
          ],
          "pattern": "^(.*)$"
        },
        "reasonable": {
          "$id": "#/properties/room/properties/reasonable",
          "type": "boolean",
          "title": "The Reasonable Schema",
          "default": false,
          "examples": [
            true
          ]
        }
      },
	"additionalProperties": false
    },
    "base": {
      "$id": "#/properties/base",
      "type": "object",
      "title": "The Base Schema",
      "required": [
        "type",
        "quantity"
      ],
      "properties": {
        "type": {
          "$id": "#/properties/base/properties/type",
          "type": "string",
          "title": "The Type Schema",
          "default": "",
          "examples": [
            "курьи ноги"
          ],
          "pattern": "^(.*)$"
        },
        "quantity": {
          "$id": "#/properties/base/properties/quantity",
          "type": "integer",
          "title": "The Quantity Schema",
          "default": 0,
          "examples": [
            2
          ]
        }
      },
	"additionalProperties": false
    },
    "residents": {
      "$id": "#/properties/residents",
      "type": "array",
      "title": "The Residents Schema",
      "items": {
        "$id": "#/properties/residents/items",
        "type": "object",
        "title": "The Items Schema",
        "required": [
          "name",
          "profile"
        ],
        "properties": {
          "name": {
            "$id": "#/properties/residents/items/properties/name",
            "type": "string",
            "title": "The Name Schema",
            "default": "",
            "examples": [
              "Баба Яга"
            ],
            "pattern": "^(.*)$"
          },
          "profile": {
            "$id": "#/properties/residents/items/properties/profile",
            "type": "string",
            "title": "The Profile Schema",
            "default": "",
            "examples": [
              "ведьма"
            ],
            "pattern": "^(.*)$"
          }
        },
	    "additionalProperties": false
      }
    },
    "location": {
      "$id": "#/properties/location",
      "type": "object",
      "title": "The Location Schema",
      "required": [
        "address"
      ],
      "properties": {
        "address": {
          "$id": "#/properties/location/properties/address",
          "type": "string",
          "title": "The Address Schema",
          "default": "",
          "examples": [
            "граница леса"
          ],
          "pattern": "^(.*)$",
		  "additionalProperties": false
        }
      },
	"additionalProperties": false
    }
  },
	"additionalProperties": false
}
This is the json diagram of the structure above. Now it's time to explain why you need it. It will eliminate the need to write classes and maintain them. There is such a good project jsonschema2pojo . It offers plugins for project builders (Maven, Gradle) that will write these classes for you at build time. Here's an example from my project: 
<plugin>
    <groupId>org.jsonschema2pojo</groupId>
    <artifactId>jsonschema2pojo-maven-plugin</artifactId>
    <version>0.4.37</version>

    <executions>
        <execution>
            <id>jsonschema2opjo</id>
            <configuration>
                <sourceDirectory>${project.basedir}/src/main/resources/json-schema/</sourceDirectory>
                <targetPackage>tester.model</targetPackage>
                <outputDirectory>${project.basedir}/target/generated-sources/jsonschema/</outputDirectory>
                <useCommonsLang3>true</useCommonsLang3>
                <includeConstructors>true</includeConstructors>
                <generateBuilders>true</generateBuilders>
                <includeToString>true</includeToString>
                <usePrimitives>true</usePrimitives>
            </configuration>
            <goals>
                <goal>generate</goal>
            </goals>
            <phase>generate-sources</phase>
        </execution>
    </executions>
</plugin>
This is his setting. The most interesting thing is here: 
<useCommonsLang3>true</useCommonsLang3>
<includeConstructors>true</includeConstructors>
<generateBuilders>true</generateBuilders>
<includeToString>true</includeToString>
<usePrimitives>true</usePrimitives>
This is an instruction on how to write a class: useCommonsLang3 - use the CommonsLang3 library includeConstructors - will write a constructor generateBuilders - will build a pattern builder includeToString - add toString usePrimitives - an instruction to use primitives How is this better than home-written code?

  1. You can customize classes with one line. For example, you need to add the Pojo suffix to each class. Just add <classNameSuffix>Pojo</classNameSuffix> to assemble the project - and you're done. Otherwise, we would have to change the names of each class manually.

    There are a lot of these parameters, it’s worth reading about them all in the docs

  2. If your project has a consumer, it will be much easier to give it json schemas rather than java classes. As I already said, the schemes are universal and the consumer will simply generate pojo in his own language.

  3. They are much smaller. The example above contains a lot of information that is not always necessary, for example, patterns and examples. But if you return them to java code, it will also grow a lot. And don’t forget about the template code, which is indicated in the diagrams by a couple of settings in the plugin, but you have to write it in the code yourself. And yes, I know about Lombok, there is an alternative.

  4. No logic in pojo. When your classes are self-written, someone may be tempted to add a method that is convenient for them. The method cannot be added to the json schema, as well as to the generated class.

That's probably all.

Conclusion:

I tried to convey that json schemes are a very good format for interaction between projects. One day I met him on a project, and he fell into my heart. I use them almost everywhere. Yes, this is not always convenient, because in order to view the sources, you need to assemble the project. But this is pojo, which means there can’t be logic there, and there won’t be any with circuits. PS.. sometimes I explain poorly, so here is a video with a good report: Kirill Merkushev - Code generation as a way to solve automation problems.
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