Using JSON.NET with RESTful WCF service in .NET 4

Question

Has anyone got a RESTful WCF service (in .NET4) successfully using JSON.NET to do serialization/deserialization?

What's the best approach?

Answer 1

Can you provide a few more details about what you're trying to do with JSON.NET? I'm not exactly sure what scenarios you're trying to deal with -- but I'll give you my general experience with JSON.NET and WCF RESTful services.

I've built a number of WCF RESTful services that are called, primarily, by my client app using jQuery's AJAX functionality. Generally, I have not had to use JSON.NET as the JsonSerializer does a fine job of serializing my return values (single values or List<T> collections) perfectly fine and can navigate through the object without issue.

The times that I've had to use JSON.NET is when I'm sending a JSON object as part of my POST variables that I've serialized on the client using the JSON2.js library. JSON.NET has done a fine job of serializing and deserializing those values without issue, too.

I like JSON.NET -- haven't had any issues. Honestly, when I started out, I thought I would use it a lot, but have found that I only need it for edge cases. Generally I rely on the built-in JSON serialization and deserialization capabilities in WCF.

I hope this helps. Please let me know if you need more info or if there are specific scenarios you're trying to handle, and I'll update my answer accordingly. Thanks!