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Top 10 JSON Errors That Waste Developer Time

And How to Avoid Them

JSON errors can waste hours of developer time. You're debugging, searching Stack Overflow, trying different fixes - all while your application is broken.

We've analyzed thousands of JSON errors and identified the top 10 JSON errors that waste the most developer time. Learn why each error happens, how to fix it quickly, and how to prevent it. Use our free JSON Fixer to fix these errors in seconds.

The Top 10 Time-Wasting JSON Errors

1

Unexpected token <

Wastes: 5-15 minutes

Why It Happens:

HTML error page returned instead of JSON

Quick Fix:

Check API endpoint, verify Content-Type header

2

Unexpected end of JSON input

Wastes: 10-20 minutes

Why It Happens:

Missing closing braces or truncated response

Quick Fix:

Add missing closing braces, check network request completion

3

Expected ',' or {'}'} after property value

Wastes: 5-10 minutes

Why It Happens:

Missing comma between properties or trailing comma

Quick Fix:

Add missing commas or remove trailing commas

4

Invalid control character

Wastes: 10-15 minutes

Why It Happens:

Unescaped newlines, tabs, or control characters

Quick Fix:

Escape special characters or use JSON.stringify()

5

Unexpected token {'}'} in JSON

Wastes: 3-5 minutes

Why It Happens:

Trailing comma before closing brace

Quick Fix:

Remove trailing comma

6

Unexpected token ' in JSON

Wastes: 5-10 minutes

Why It Happens:

Single quotes instead of double quotes

Quick Fix:

Replace single quotes with double quotes

7

Unexpected token / in JSON

Wastes: 5-8 minutes

Why It Happens:

Comments in JSON (not allowed)

Quick Fix:

Remove all // and /* */ comments

8

Unexpected token u in JSON

Wastes: 5-10 minutes

Why It Happens:

undefined value (not valid in JSON)

Quick Fix:

Replace undefined with null or omit property

9

Unexpected number in JSON

Wastes: 8-12 minutes

Why It Happens:

NaN or Infinity values

Quick Fix:

Replace with null or valid number

10

Unexpected non-whitespace character

Wastes: 10-20 minutes

Why It Happens:

Invalid characters or encoding issues

Quick Fix:

Check encoding, remove invalid characters

Prevention Tips

Always Validate JSON

Use our JSON Validator before using JSON in production.

Use JSON.stringify()

Never build JSON manually - use proper serialization.

Handle Errors Gracefully

Wrap JSON.parse() in try-catch blocks.

Use JSON Fixer as Backup

Keep our JSON Fixer bookmarked for quick fixes.

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