nlohmann::basic_json::operator==¶

bool operator==(const_reference lhs, const_reference rhs) noexcept;

template<typename ScalarType>
bool operator==(const_reference lhs, const ScalarType rhs) noexcept;

template<typename ScalarType>
bool operator==(ScalarType lhs, const const_reference rhs) noexcept;

Compares two JSON values for equality according to the following rules:

Two JSON values are equal if (1) they are not discarded, (2) they are from the same type, and (3) their stored values are the same according to their respective operator==.
Integer and floating-point numbers are automatically converted before comparison. Note that two NaN values are always treated as unequal.

Template parameters¶

ScalarType: a scalar type according to std::is_scalar<ScalarType>::value

Parameters¶

lhs (in): first value to consider
rhs (in): second value to consider

Return value¶

whether the values lhs and rhs are equal

Exception safety¶

No-throw guarantee: this function never throws exceptions.

Complexity¶

Linear.

Notes¶

Comparing special values

NaN values never compare equal to themselves or to other NaN values.
JSON null values are all equal.
Discarded values never compare equal to themselves.

Comparing floating-point numbers

Floating-point numbers inside JSON values numbers are compared with json::number_float_t::operator== which is double::operator== by default. To compare floating-point while respecting an epsilon, an alternative comparison function could be used, for instance

template<typename T, typename = typename std::enable_if<std::is_floating_point<T>::value, T>::type>
inline bool is_same(T a, T b, T epsilon = std::numeric_limits<T>::epsilon()) noexcept
{
    return std::abs(a - b) <= epsilon;
}

Or you can self-defined operator equal function like this:

bool my_equal(const_reference lhs, const_reference rhs)
{
    const auto lhs_type lhs.type();
    const auto rhs_type rhs.type();
    if (lhs_type == rhs_type)
    {
        switch(lhs_type)
            // self_defined case
            case value_t::number_float:
                return std::abs(lhs - rhs) <= std::numeric_limits<float>::epsilon();
            // other cases remain the same with the original
            ...
    }
...
}

Examples¶

Example

The example demonstrates comparing several JSON types.

#include <iostream>
#include <nlohmann/json.hpp>

using json = nlohmann::json;

int main()
{
    // create several JSON values
    json array_1 = {1, 2, 3};
    json array_2 = {1, 2, 4};
    json object_1 = {{"A", "a"}, {"B", "b"}};
    json object_2 = {{"B", "b"}, {"A", "a"}};
    json number_1 = 17;
    json number_2 = 17.000000000000001L;
    json string_1 = "foo";
    json string_2 = "bar";

    // output values and comparisons
    std::cout << std::boolalpha;
    std::cout << array_1 << " == " << array_2 << " " << (array_1 == array_2) << '\n';
    std::cout << object_1 << " == " << object_2 << " " << (object_1 == object_2) << '\n';
    std::cout << number_1 << " == " << number_2 << " " << (number_1 == number_2) << '\n';
    std::cout << string_1 << " == " << string_2 << " " << (string_1 == string_2) << '\n';
}

Output:

[1,2,3] == [1,2,4] false
{"A":"a","B":"b"} == {"A":"a","B":"b"} true
17 == 17.0 true
"foo" == "bar" false

Example

The example demonstrates comparing several JSON types against the null pointer (JSON null).

#include <iostream>
#include <nlohmann/json.hpp>

using json = nlohmann::json;

int main()
{
    // create several JSON values
    json array = {1, 2, 3};
    json object = {{"A", "a"}, {"B", "b"}};
    json number = 17;
    json string = "foo";
    json null;

    // output values and comparisons
    std::cout << std::boolalpha;
    std::cout << array << " == nullptr " << (array == nullptr) << '\n';
    std::cout << object << " == nullptr " << (object == nullptr) << '\n';
    std::cout << number << " == nullptr " << (number == nullptr) << '\n';
    std::cout << string << " == nullptr " << (string == nullptr) << '\n';
    std::cout << null << " == nullptr " << (null == nullptr) << '\n';
}

Output:

[1,2,3] == nullptr false
{"A":"a","B":"b"} == nullptr false
17 == nullptr false
"foo" == nullptr false
null == nullptr true

Version history¶

Added in version 1.0.0.

Last update: May 17, 2022