Difference between JSON.stringify(response.json()) and response.text()

Question

After converting a response stream into JSON, are the two exactly the same?

const responseA = fetch(endpointReturnsJson)
const textA = await responseA.text()

In a parallel universe...

const responseA = fetch(endpointReturnsJson)
const json = await responseA.json()
const textB = JSON.stringify(json)

I understand that textB will likely include serialization of characters such as {\\ Is there anything else?

First of all you are missing await in front of both fetch and response.json/response.text. And assuming the response was valid JSON in the first place: JSON.parse(await response.text()) should give the same result as await response.json(), but not necessarily the other way round because for example the whitespace may be different. — CherryDT
– CherryDT, Commented Aug 19, 2020 at 23:09

OFRBG · Accepted Answer · 2020-08-19 22:58:37Z

3

It all depends on what stuff is.

If you use response.json(), you are assuming that the incoming stream was JSON-encoded. The method will take the stream's body's text and parse it.

When the data is not in JSON format, then access it with response.text() and process it accordingly.

answered Aug 19, 2020 at 22:58

OFRBG

1,80817 silver badges29 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

1 Answer 1