Which format is better for list in JSON API design, flat array or nested object? -

for list api, such users, find there 2 common formats. arrays:

// flat array [   {     "login": "octocat",     "id": 1     ...   },   ... ] 

github, heroku , twitter use format

vs objects:

{   "results": [     {       "login": "octocat",       "id": 1       ...     },     ...   ] } 

parse , slack , instagram use format.

which 1 better? how compare these 2 formats?

array-oriented data has following advantages:

• client-side javascript has more methods arrays objects
• no need root node simulate tree structure tabular structure

and disadvantages:

• no namespacing since indexes numeric
• json.parse fails in client-side javascript

key/value-oriented data has following advantages:

• json.parse works in client-side javascript
• namespacing makes duplicate values easier disambiguate
• json.stringify works make simple transformations easier compared array methods

and disadvantages:

• it can hard iterate nested hierarchies without library in client-side code
• json.parse in client-side code removes duplicate key names on same level

references

• want return , array restful web services?
• read local file text (tab separated values) d3 or ajax cause syntax error in firefox development console
• query json/xml/csv using sql | joe conley