How do I write JSON string using JSON-Java (org.json) library?

The following code snippet show you how to create JSON string using JSON-Java library. Create an instance of JSONObject and use the put() method to create a key-value pair for the JSON string. The JSONArray object can be used to create an array of list of values to the JSON string, we also use the put() method to add value to the list.

The JSONObject.toString() method accept parameter called indentFactor, this set the indentation level of the generated string, which also make the JSON string generated easier to read and look prettier.

package org.kodejava.json;

import org.json.JSONArray;
import org.json.JSONObject;

public class WriteJSONString {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        JSONObject object = new JSONObject();
        object.put("id", 1L);
        object.put("name", "Alice");
        object.put("age", 20);

        JSONArray courses = new JSONArray();
        courses.put("Engineering");
        courses.put("Finance");
        courses.put("Chemistry");

        object.put("courses", courses);

        String jsonString = object.toString(2);
        System.out.println(jsonString);
    }
}

The result of the code snippet above is:

{
  "courses": [
    "Engineering",
    "Finance",
    "Chemistry"
  ],
  "name": "Alice",
  "id": 1,
  "age": 20
}

Maven Dependencies

<dependencies>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>org.json</groupId>
        <artifactId>json</artifactId>
        <version>20240303</version>
    </dependency>
</dependencies>

Maven Central

How do I read JSON file using JSON-Java (org.json) library?

In this example we are going to use the JSON-Java (org.json) library to read or parse JSON file. First we start by getting the InputStream of the JSON file to be read using getResourceAsStream() method. Next we construct a JSONTokener from the input stream and create an instance of JSONObject to read the JSON entries.

We can use method like getString(), getInt(), getLong(), etc. to read a key-value from the JSON file. The getJSONArray() method allow us to read a list of values returned in JSONArray object, which can be iterated to get each values represented by the key. Let’s see the detail code snippet below.

package org.kodejava.json;

import org.json.JSONArray;
import org.json.JSONObject;
import org.json.JSONTokener;

import java.io.InputStream;

public class ReadJSONString {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        // info.json
        // {
        //   "id": "1",
        //   "name": "Alice",
        //   "age": "20",
        //   "courses": [
        //     "Engineering",
        //     "Finance",
        //     "Chemistry"
        //   ]
        // }
        String resourceName = "/info.json";
        InputStream is = ReadJSONString.class.getResourceAsStream(resourceName);
        if (is == null) {
            throw new NullPointerException("Cannot find resource file " + resourceName);
        }

        JSONTokener tokener = new JSONTokener(is);
        JSONObject object = new JSONObject(tokener);
        System.out.println("Id  : " + object.getLong("id"));
        System.out.println("Name: " + object.getString("name"));
        System.out.println("Age : " + object.getInt("age"));

        System.out.println("Courses: ");
        JSONArray courses = object.getJSONArray("courses");
        for (int i = 0; i < courses.length(); i++) {
            System.out.println("  - " + courses.get(i));
        }
    }
}

The result of the code snippet above is:

Id  : 1
Name: Alice
Age : 20
Courses: 
  - Engineering
  - Finance
  - Chemistry

Maven Dependencies

<dependencies>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>org.json</groupId>
        <artifactId>json</artifactId>
        <version>20240303</version>
    </dependency>
</dependencies>

Maven Central

Install IntelliJ IDEA Community Edition and Write Hello Kotlin Program

To write Kotlin program you will need an IDE (Integrated Development Environment). One of the IDE that you can use is the IntelliJ IDEA CE (Community Edition). It comes with Kotlin Java Runtime Library, so you don’t need to install it separately.

To run Kotlin program you will need to install the latest JDK (Java Development Kit) which can be downloaded freely from the Java Download Website. Download version for your operating system and run the installer.

To check if Java successfully installed you can type the following command in your terminal or command prompt:

java -version

If you see something this then Java Development Kit is installed in your system.

java version "17" 2021-09-14 LTS
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 17+35-LTS-2724)
Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 17+35-LTS-2724, mixed mode, sharing)

After installing the JDK you can download the IntelliJ IDEA CE. Double-click the installer to install it. For more details on installation and set up you can check out this website.

Now let’s create our first simple Kotlin program in IntelliJ IDEA.

  • Open the IntelliJ IDEA CE and click the Create New Project from the Welcome Screen dialog.
Create New Kotlin Project

Create New Kotlin Project

  • On the New Project dialog choose Kotlin from the left sidebar and then choose Kotlin/JVM in the selection on the right sidebar. Press the Next button.
New Kotlin Project Setup

New Kotlin Project Setup

  • Enter the project name Hello Kotlin, the project location path and the JDK will be used in the project.
New Kotlin Project Configurations

New Kotlin Project Configurations

  • Click the Finish button to create the project. It will bring you to the following screen.
HelloKotlin Project in IntelliJ IDEA CE

HelloKotlin Project in IntelliJ IDEA CE

  • Right-click on the src directory and choose NewKotlin File/Class from the menu. Enter HelloKotlin in the File/Class name.
New Kotlin File/Class Dialog

New Kotlin File/Class Dialog

  • In the HelloKotlin.kt type in the following code snippet.
fun main(args: Array<String>) {
    if (args.isEmpty()) {
        println("Hello, World!")
        return
    } else {
        println("Hi, hello ${args[0]}!")
    }
}
  • To run it, right-click on the editor and choose the Run HelloKotlinKt from the menu.
  • If you want to run it with an argument, you can set it in the Run/Debug Configurations dialog.
  • To open the Run/Debug Configurations click the down-arrow button next to HelloKotlinKt in the navigation bar on the top-right and choose Edit Configurations…
  • Type in the arguments in the Program arguments textbox.
Run/Debug Configurations

Run/Debug Configurations

That’s all. Now you have your JDK, IntelliJ IDEA CE installed and created your first Kotlin program. If you have any questions, please post it in the comments section below. Thank you and have fun with Kotlin.

How do I write Hello World in Kotlin?

In Kotlin, the HelloWorld.kt program can be written as a simple function like the following snippet.

fun main(args: Array<String>) {
    println("Hello, World!")
}

From this little code snippet we can learn the following features of the Kotlin programming language:

  • Kotlin program saved in a file with .kt extension.
  • The fun keyword to declare a function to show you that programming can be fun again 😉
  • To declare variables we start with the variable name followed by its type separated by a colon.
  • We don’t have to end a statement with a semicolons.
  • To print we can use the println function, which is a wrapper to Java System.out.println.
  • The main function is the execution entry point of our HelloWorld program.
  • We can create functions at the top level file without creating a class.

To compile the HelloWorld.kt program we run the following command:

kotlinc HelloWorld.kt

The compiler creates a class file called HelloWorldKt.class. To run it type the following command, assumed that you’ve set up the $KOTLIN_LIB environment variable. In my case the variable is set to /usr/local/Cellar/kotlin/1.2.40/libexec/lib.

java -cp $KOTLIN_LIB/kotlin-stdlib.jar:. HelloWorldKt

How do I set the default Java (JDK) version on Mac OS X?

In this post you will learn how to set the default JAVA_HOME in Mac OS X when you have more than one JDK installed in your computer. First you need to run /usr/libexec/java_home -V command to get the list of installed JDK. The command will print out something like the following depending on the available JDK in your computer.

On my machine I have the following version of Java.

Matching Java Virtual Machines (3):
    9, x86_64:  "Java SE 9"     /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk-9.jdk/Contents/Home
    1.8.0_121, x86_64:  "Java SE 8"     /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk1.8.0_121.jdk/Contents/Home
    1.7.0_80, x86_64:   "Java SE 7"     /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk1.7.0_80.jdk/Contents/Home

From the list above pick which version you want to be the default JDK. For example, I will choose the 1.8.0_121 version to be my default JDK. To set it run the command below.

export JAVA_HOME=`/usr/libexec/java_home -v 1.8.0_121`

If the major version of the available JDK is unique you can just use the major version, like:

export JAVA_HOME=`/usr/libexec/java_home -v 1.8`

After setting the JAVA_HOME and you run the java -version command you will see that JDK 1.8 is the new default JDK in your computer.

java version "1.8.0_121"
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.8.0_121-b13)
Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 25.121-b13, mixed mode)

The change above will only be active in the current running shell. If you close or terminate the shell, next time you open the shell you will need to set it again. To make this change permanent you need to set it in your shell init file. For example if you are using bash then you can set the command in the .bash_profile. Add the following lines at the end of the file.

# Setting default JDK to version 1.8.
export JAVA_HOME=`/usr/libexec/java_home -v 1.8`

To activate this configuration right away your can run source .bash_profile. This command reads and executes the .bash_profile in the current shell.