JSON serialization is supported since SDT4.0 as it's very popular nowadays in the developers' communities, especially in the context of RESTful implementation. JSON is more concise and human-readable comparing to XML, but has less capability of formal schema definition and validation (such as the XML Schema as defined in [domain.xsd](SDT/schema4.0/src/domain.xsd)).
When SDT was introduced, XML was the favorite encoding format for schemas. Since then, JSON became more popular in the developers' communities, especially in the context of RESTful implementation.
JSON is more concise and human-readable comparing to XML, but has less capability of formal schema definition and validation (such as the XML Schema as defined in [domain.xsd](SDT/schema4.0/src/domain.xsd)).
For these reasons, JSON serialization is supported since SDT4.0.
There are some open tools such as [JSON Schema](http://json-schema.org/) that might be useful for describing and validating the JSON serialization of SDT, but it's not yet a formal standard and is still under development.
There are some open tools such as [JSON Schema](http://json-schema.org/) that might be useful for describing and validating the JSON serialization of SDT, but it's not yet a formal standard and is still under development.
