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nlohmann::basic_json::operator==

// until C++20
bool operator==(const_reference lhs, const_reference rhs) noexcept;   // (1)

template<typename ScalarType>
bool operator==(const_reference lhs, const ScalarType rhs) noexcept;  // (2)

template<typename ScalarType>
bool operator==(ScalarType lhs, const const_reference rhs) noexcept;  // (2)

// since C++20
class basic_json {
    bool operator==(const_reference rhs) const noexcept;              // (1)

    template<typename ScalarType>
    bool operator==(ScalarType rhs) const noexcept;                   // (2)
};

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

    • Two JSON values are equal if (1) neither value is discarded, or (2) they are of the same type and their stored values are the same according to their respective operator==.
    • Integer and floating-point numbers are automatically converted before comparison.

  2. Compares a JSON value and a scalar or a scalar and a JSON value for equality by converting the scalar to a JSON value and comparing both JSON values according to 1.

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/*this and rhs are equal

Exception safety

No-throw guarantee: this function never throws exceptions.

Complexity

Linear.

Notes

Comparing special values

  • NaN values are unordered within the domain of numbers. The following comparisons all yield false:
    1. Comparing a NaN with itself.
    2. Comparing a NaN with another NaN.
    3. Comparing a NaN and any other number.
  • 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
            ...
    }
...
}

Comparing different basic_json specializations

Comparing different basic_json specializations can have surprising effects. For instance, the result of comparing the JSON objects

{
   "version": 1,
   "type": "integer"
}

and

{
   "type": "integer",
   "version": 1
}

depends on whether nlohmann::json or nlohmann::ordered_json is used:

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

using json = nlohmann::json;

int main()
{
    nlohmann::json uj1 = {{"version", 1}, {"type", "integer"}};
    nlohmann::json uj2 = {{"type", "integer"}, {"version", 1}};

    nlohmann::ordered_json oj1 = {{"version", 1}, {"type", "integer"}};
    nlohmann::ordered_json oj2 = {{"type", "integer"}, {"version", 1}};

    std::cout << std::boolalpha << (uj1 == uj2) << '\n' << (oj1 == oj2) << std::endl;
}

Output:

true
false

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

  1. Added in version 1.0.0. Added C++20 member functions in version 3.11.0.
  2. Added in version 1.0.0. Added C++20 member functions in version 3.11.0.
Last update: March 8, 2023