Dynamic Keys

JSON data is written as name/value pairs, just like JavaScript object properties.
Lets assume that we want to create a Person object that contains a First Name and a Last Name.
There are actually two different ways an object can be represented in JSON.

Format 1 - Array Format

This is the normal way:

"staff" : 
[ 
  { 
    "id": 1, 
    "firstName":"John", 
    "lastName":"Doe" 
  }, 
  { 
    "id": 2, 
    "firstName":"Anna", 
    "lastName":"Smith" 
  } 
] 

Format 2 - Dynamic Keys

However there is another format that can be used and this format uses a Dynamic Key.
In this format the "id" is used as the key.
This relies on the <key> to access a specific staff object.

"staff" : 
{ 
   "1" : 
   { 
      "firstName":"John", 
      "lastName":"Doe" 
   }, 
   "2" : 
   { 
      "firstName":"Anna", 
      "lastName":"Smith" 
   } 
}