How to Parse JSON in C#

System.Text.Json (Built-in, Recommended)

using System.Text.Json;

// Define a matching class
public class User
{
    public string Name { get; set; }
    public int Age { get; set; }
    public bool Active { get; set; }
}

// Deserialize JSON string to typed object
string json = """{"name":"Alice","age":30,"active":true}""";
var user = JsonSerializer.Deserialize<User>(json);

Console.WriteLine(user.Name);   // Alice
Console.WriteLine(user.Age);    // 30

// Serialize object to JSON string
string output = JsonSerializer.Serialize(user);
// '{"Name":"Alice","Age":30,"Active":true}'

// Pretty-print
var options = new JsonSerializerOptions { WriteIndented = true };
string pretty = JsonSerializer.Serialize(user, options);

// Case-insensitive deserialization (default is case-sensitive)
var opts = new JsonSerializerOptions
{
    PropertyNameCaseInsensitive = true
};
var user2 = JsonSerializer.Deserialize<User>(json, opts);

Newtonsoft.Json (Json.NET)

Install via NuGet: Install-Package Newtonsoft.Json

using Newtonsoft.Json;

// Deserialize to typed class
string json = """{"name":"Alice","age":30,"active":true}""";
var user = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<User>(json);

Console.WriteLine(user.Name); // Alice

// Serialize to JSON
string output = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(user);

// Pretty-print
string pretty = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(user, Formatting.Indented);

// Deserialize to dynamic (no class needed)
dynamic obj = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject(json);
Console.WriteLine(obj.name); // Alice

// Deserialize a JSON array
string jsonArray = """[{"name":"Alice"},{"name":"Bob"}]""";
var users = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<List<User>>(jsonArray);

Error Handling

using System.Text.Json;

// System.Text.Json
try
{
    var user = JsonSerializer.Deserialize<User>(json);
}
catch (JsonException ex)
{
    Console.WriteLine($"JSON error: {ex.Message}");
    Console.WriteLine($"Line: {ex.LineNumber}, Position: {ex.BytePositionInLine}");
}

// Newtonsoft.Json
try
{
    var user = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<User>(json);
}
catch (JsonReaderException ex)
{
    Console.WriteLine($"JSON error: {ex.Message}");
    Console.WriteLine($"Line: {ex.LineNumber}");
}
catch (JsonSerializationException ex)
{
    Console.WriteLine($"Mapping error: {ex.Message}");
}

Parse JSON in Other Languages

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