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Jackson Java (How It Works For Developers)

Darrius Serrant
Darrius Serrant
Updated:

In the realm of modern programming, handling data in the form of JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) has become a crucial task. JSON's simplicity and ease of use make it a popular choice for data interchange between a server and a client. For Java developers, the Jackson library stands out as a powerful tool for JSON processing. This article delves into the features, usage, and advantages of Jackson Java, providing code examples to illustrate its capabilities. Additionally, we'll explore IronPDF for Java and demonstrate how to integrate it with Jackson to generate PDF documents from JSON data.

What is Jackson?

Jackson is a high-performance JSON processor for Java. It provides comprehensive support for JSON, offering a suite of tools to serialize Java objects into JSON and deserialize JSON into Java objects. Developed by FasterXML, Jackson is widely used in the Java community due to its robustness, flexibility, and ease of use.

Core Features of Jackson

  1. Data Binding: Jackson excels at converting Java objects to JSON and vice versa, making it straightforward to serialize and deserialize data.
  2. Tree Model: This feature allows parsing JSON into a tree-like structure, enabling manipulation of JSON data without needing to bind it to specific Java objects.
  3. Streaming API: For processing large JSON files, Jackson provides a low-level API that reads and writes JSON content as discrete tokens.
  4. Annotations Support: Jackson supports various annotations to control the serialization and deserialization processes, providing fine-grained control over JSON processing.
  5. Extensibility: With modules for various data formats and additional functionality, Jackson is highly extensible.

Jackson Java (How It Works For Developers): Figure 1

Getting Started with Jackson

To begin using Jackson in your Java project, you need to add the necessary dependencies. For users using Maven, add the following code to your pom.xml:

<dependency>
    <groupId>com.fasterxml.jackson.core</groupId>
    <artifactId>jackson-databind</artifactId>
    <version>2.13.2</version>
</dependency>
<dependency>
    <groupId>com.fasterxml.jackson.core</groupId>
    <artifactId>jackson-databind</artifactId>
    <version>2.13.2</version>
</dependency>
XML

Basic Usage of Jackson

1. Data Binding

The most common use of Jackson is to bind JSON data to Java objects (POJOs) and vice versa. Here's a straightforward example to demonstrate this:

import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper;

// Class demonstrating JSON data binding using Jackson
class Main {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        ObjectMapper objectMapper = new ObjectMapper();

        // Try-catch block to handle potential exceptions during JSON processing
        try {
            // Create a User object and serialize it to a JSON string
            User user = new User("John", "Doe", 30);
            String jsonString = objectMapper.writeValueAsString(user);
            System.out.println("JSON String: " + jsonString);

            // Deserialize JSON string back into a User object
            String jsonInput = "{\"firstName\":\"Jane\",\"lastName\":\"Doe\",\"age\":25}";
            User userFromJson = objectMapper.readValue(jsonInput, User.class);
            System.out.println("User from JSON: " + userFromJson);
        } catch (Exception e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    }
}

// A simple User class with basic attributes
class User {
    public String firstName;
    public String lastName;
    public int age;

    // Default constructor
    public User() {
    }

    // Parameterized constructor
    public User(String firstName, String lastName, int age) {
        this.firstName = firstName;
        this.lastName = lastName;
        this.age = age;
    }

    // Override toString for easier printing
    @Override
    public String toString() {
        return "User [firstName=" + firstName + ", lastName=" + lastName + ", age=" + age + "]";
    }
}
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper;

// Class demonstrating JSON data binding using Jackson
class Main {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        ObjectMapper objectMapper = new ObjectMapper();

        // Try-catch block to handle potential exceptions during JSON processing
        try {
            // Create a User object and serialize it to a JSON string
            User user = new User("John", "Doe", 30);
            String jsonString = objectMapper.writeValueAsString(user);
            System.out.println("JSON String: " + jsonString);

            // Deserialize JSON string back into a User object
            String jsonInput = "{\"firstName\":\"Jane\",\"lastName\":\"Doe\",\"age\":25}";
            User userFromJson = objectMapper.readValue(jsonInput, User.class);
            System.out.println("User from JSON: " + userFromJson);
        } catch (Exception e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    }
}

// A simple User class with basic attributes
class User {
    public String firstName;
    public String lastName;
    public int age;

    // Default constructor
    public User() {
    }

    // Parameterized constructor
    public User(String firstName, String lastName, int age) {
        this.firstName = firstName;
        this.lastName = lastName;
        this.age = age;
    }

    // Override toString for easier printing
    @Override
    public String toString() {
        return "User [firstName=" + firstName + ", lastName=" + lastName + ", age=" + age + "]";
    }
}
JAVA

Jackson Java (How It Works For Developers): Figure 2 - Example output binding JSON data to Java Objects

2. Tree Model

Jackson's tree model is useful for manipulating JSON data without needing to create Java classes. Here's an example:

import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.JsonNode;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.node.ObjectNode;

// Example of utilizing the Tree Model feature of Jackson
class TreeModelExample {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        ObjectMapper objectMapper = new ObjectMapper();
        try {
            // JSON string that we need to parse
            String jsonString = "{\"name\":\"John\", \"age\":30}";

            // Parse JSON string into a JsonNode (tree structure)
            JsonNode rootNode = objectMapper.readTree(jsonString);
            System.out.println("Name: " + rootNode.get("name").asText());
            System.out.println("Age: " + rootNode.get("age").asInt());

            // Modify the JSON structure using Tree Model
            ((ObjectNode) rootNode).put("age", 31);
            System.out.println("Modified JSON: " + rootNode.toString());
        } catch (Exception e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    }
}
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.JsonNode;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.node.ObjectNode;

// Example of utilizing the Tree Model feature of Jackson
class TreeModelExample {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        ObjectMapper objectMapper = new ObjectMapper();
        try {
            // JSON string that we need to parse
            String jsonString = "{\"name\":\"John\", \"age\":30}";

            // Parse JSON string into a JsonNode (tree structure)
            JsonNode rootNode = objectMapper.readTree(jsonString);
            System.out.println("Name: " + rootNode.get("name").asText());
            System.out.println("Age: " + rootNode.get("age").asInt());

            // Modify the JSON structure using Tree Model
            ((ObjectNode) rootNode).put("age", 31);
            System.out.println("Modified JSON: " + rootNode.toString());
        } catch (Exception e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    }
}
JAVA

Jackson Java (How It Works For Developers): Figure 3 - Directly modifying the JSON data without using Java Classes

3. Streaming API

For processing large JSON files, the streaming API is efficient:

import com.fasterxml.jackson.core.JsonFactory;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.core.JsonParser;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.core.JsonToken;
import java.io.File;

// Example of using Jackson's Streaming API for large files
class StreamingAPIExample {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        JsonFactory factory = new JsonFactory();
        try (JsonParser parser = factory.createParser(new File("large.json"))) {

            // Iterate over JSON tokens for efficient reading
            while (!parser.isClosed()) {
                JsonToken token = parser.nextToken();
                if (token == JsonToken.FIELD_NAME) {
                    // Print each field name as we parse through JSON
                    String fieldName = parser.getCurrentName();
                    System.out.println("Field: " + fieldName);
                }
            }
        } catch (Exception e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    }
}
import com.fasterxml.jackson.core.JsonFactory;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.core.JsonParser;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.core.JsonToken;
import java.io.File;

// Example of using Jackson's Streaming API for large files
class StreamingAPIExample {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        JsonFactory factory = new JsonFactory();
        try (JsonParser parser = factory.createParser(new File("large.json"))) {

            // Iterate over JSON tokens for efficient reading
            while (!parser.isClosed()) {
                JsonToken token = parser.nextToken();
                if (token == JsonToken.FIELD_NAME) {
                    // Print each field name as we parse through JSON
                    String fieldName = parser.getCurrentName();
                    System.out.println("Field: " + fieldName);
                }
            }
        } catch (Exception e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    }
}
JAVA

Input JSON file

Jackson Java (How It Works For Developers): Figure 4 - Example input JSON data

Output Image

Jackson Java (How It Works For Developers): Figure 5 - Example output data fields after processing

Introducing IronPDF for Java

IronPDF is a comprehensive library for creating, editing, and rendering PDF documents in Java. It provides a simple API to generate PDFs from various sources, such as HTML, URLs, or existing documents. IronPDF is particularly useful when you need to create PDFs from JSON data processed by Jackson, for example, if a developer is creating a Spring Boot application that involves generating reports based on data, IronPDF can significantly streamline the workflow.

Jackson Java (How It Works For Developers): Figure 6 - IronPDF homepage:The Java PDF Library

Adding IronPDF to Your Project

To use IronPDF in your project, add the following dependency:

<dependency>
    <groupId>com.ironsoftware</groupId>
    <artifactId>ironpdf</artifactId>
    <version>2023.6.0</version>
</dependency>
<dependency>
    <groupId>com.ironsoftware</groupId>
    <artifactId>ironpdf</artifactId>
    <version>2023.6.0</version>
</dependency>
XML

Integrating Jackson with IronPDF

Combining Jackson and IronPDF, we can create a powerful solution to generate PDF documents from JSON data. Below is a comprehensive example that reads JSON data, processes it with Jackson, and generates a PDF document using IronPDF.

import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper;
import com.ironsoftware.ironpdf.PdfDocument;
import java.io.File;
import java.util.List;

// Example of integrating Jackson to handle JSON and IronPDF to generate PDFs
class JacksonIronPDFExample {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        try {
            ObjectMapper objectMapper = new ObjectMapper();

            // Read JSON data from a file and convert it to a List of Person objects
            List<Person> persons = objectMapper.readValue(new File("persons.json"),
                    objectMapper.getTypeFactory().constructCollectionType(List.class, Person.class));

            // Generate HTML content based on JSON data
            StringBuilder htmlContent = new StringBuilder("<h1>Persons List</h1><table border='1'><tr><th>First Name</th><th>Last Name</th><th>Birth Date</th></tr>");
            for (Person person : persons) {
                htmlContent.append("<tr>")
                        .append("<td>").append(person.getFirstName()).append("</td>")
                        .append("<td>").append(person.getLastName()).append("</td>")
                        .append("<td>").append(person.getBirthDate()).append("</td>")
                        .append("</tr>");
            }
            htmlContent.append("</table>");

            // Use IronPDF to create a PDF from the HTML content
            PdfDocument pdf = PdfDocument.renderHtmlAsPdf(htmlContent.toString());
            pdf.saveAs("persons.pdf");
            System.out.println("PDF created successfully from JSON data!");
        } catch (Exception e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    }
}

// Sample Person class with basic attributes and necessary methods
class Person {
    private String firstName;
    private String lastName;
    private String birthDate;

    // Constructors, getters, and setters (omitted for brevity)
    public String getFirstName() {
        return firstName;
    }
    public void setFirstName(String firstName) {
        this.firstName = firstName;
    }
    public String getLastName() {
        return lastName;
    }
    public void setLastName(String lastName) {
        this.lastName = lastName;
    }
    public String getBirthDate() {
        return birthDate;
    }
    public void setBirthDate(String birthDate) {
        this.birthDate = birthDate;
    }
}
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper;
import com.ironsoftware.ironpdf.PdfDocument;
import java.io.File;
import java.util.List;

// Example of integrating Jackson to handle JSON and IronPDF to generate PDFs
class JacksonIronPDFExample {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        try {
            ObjectMapper objectMapper = new ObjectMapper();

            // Read JSON data from a file and convert it to a List of Person objects
            List<Person> persons = objectMapper.readValue(new File("persons.json"),
                    objectMapper.getTypeFactory().constructCollectionType(List.class, Person.class));

            // Generate HTML content based on JSON data
            StringBuilder htmlContent = new StringBuilder("<h1>Persons List</h1><table border='1'><tr><th>First Name</th><th>Last Name</th><th>Birth Date</th></tr>");
            for (Person person : persons) {
                htmlContent.append("<tr>")
                        .append("<td>").append(person.getFirstName()).append("</td>")
                        .append("<td>").append(person.getLastName()).append("</td>")
                        .append("<td>").append(person.getBirthDate()).append("</td>")
                        .append("</tr>");
            }
            htmlContent.append("</table>");

            // Use IronPDF to create a PDF from the HTML content
            PdfDocument pdf = PdfDocument.renderHtmlAsPdf(htmlContent.toString());
            pdf.saveAs("persons.pdf");
            System.out.println("PDF created successfully from JSON data!");
        } catch (Exception e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    }
}

// Sample Person class with basic attributes and necessary methods
class Person {
    private String firstName;
    private String lastName;
    private String birthDate;

    // Constructors, getters, and setters (omitted for brevity)
    public String getFirstName() {
        return firstName;
    }
    public void setFirstName(String firstName) {
        this.firstName = firstName;
    }
    public String getLastName() {
        return lastName;
    }
    public void setLastName(String lastName) {
        this.lastName = lastName;
    }
    public String getBirthDate() {
        return birthDate;
    }
    public void setBirthDate(String birthDate) {
        this.birthDate = birthDate;
    }
}
JAVA

Input JSON File

Jackson Java (How It Works For Developers): Figure 7 - Example input JSON data

Output PDF File

Jackson Java (How It Works For Developers): Figure 8 - Output utilizing IronPDF to generate a table with Jackson converting the JSON data

Conclusion

Jackson is an indispensable tool for Java developers working with JSON data. Its versatility, performance, and ease of use make it a preferred choice for JSON processing. When combined with IronPDF, it becomes even more powerful, allowing developers to easily convert JSON data into well-formatted PDF documents. By integrating these two libraries, you can streamline your data processing and reporting workflows, creating dynamic and professional-looking PDFs with minimal effort. Java's ecosystem, including the Jackson databind project, constantly evolves with minor versions and major updates. To ensure that your project uses the latest tools, always check the central maven repository for the latest Jackson releases and version number updates.

To learn more about how to render HTML as PDF, visit the IronPDF overview. For more details on Jackson core and Jackson annotations, click on the external links and refer to the official Jackson documentation.

Darrius Serrant
Darrius Serrant
  Chat with engineering team now
Full Stack Software Engineer (WebOps)

Darrius Serrant holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from the University of Miami and works as a Full Stack WebOps Marketing Engineer at Iron Software. Drawn to coding from a young age, he saw computing as both mysterious and accessible, making it the perfect medium for creativity ...

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