Stage 1 · Lesson 2 of 8
JSON and data types
Almost every app and API (the way one program talks to another) exchanges data as . It is plain text with a simple structure. An object sits in curly braces and holds named fields, like {"name": "Sara"}.
A list, called an array, sits in square brackets. Each value is a (text), a number, a (true or false) or null (empty). Automation tools show you this data after each step.
, filling a later step's fields from an earlier step's output, only works once you can read it. You need to spot that "items" is a list of objects, or that a price arrived as the text "12.50" rather than a number. You reach nested data with a path, such as customer.address.city. You will see JSON everywhere from now on, from HTTP responses to .
Common traptreating everything as text, which breaks sums, date comparisons and empty checks later in the workflow.
A question to check yourself, an AI practice session and 2 cheat sheet entries come with the full roadmap. Unlock
Resources for this stage
Start with· follow one of these
- GuideFreeMDN: HTTP
Mozilla · Beginner
Read the overview, methods, status codes and headers pages: the HTTP every automation tool sits on
- GuideFreeJavaScript.info
Ilya Kantor
The JSON methods and objects chapters teach you to read and reshape the data each step passes on
Practise
Keep handy
Also worth your time
Status codes, pagination, idempotency and rate limits from the API side, so you know what to expect as a caller