What is the Drawback of JSON Columns in MySQL?

JSON columns are very powerful in terms of storing data conveniently in MySQL.

However, the JSON column format comes with some drawbacks as well.

These are some of the drawbacks of the JSON file format:

1. Complexity:
   The JSON format is considered a good way to store data, but still it is very complex due to the nested data storage.
2. Lack of Built-in Functions:
   MySQL offers a variety of built-in functions that can be used on their JSON columns but still, there are very few when compared to the traditional table format.

When dealing with the JSON file, NoSQL is often considered a better option than MySQL.

There are some other disadvantages of the JSON Columns in MySQL that we will cover in the later section of this article.

Retrieve Data Faster by Storing it as JSON

Retrieving data in JSON format is faster than in any other format. We can extract data from the given file using the following queries:

Suppose we have a MySQL table containing student data. The data consists of an ID and a data column, which includes the Name, Age, and Stream of a student.

This is how the table looks like:

To access the data in the JSON file, we need to run the following query:

This is the output of the given query:

If we have to filter the given dataset based on some condition, we can use the following query:

This is the output of the given query:

We can also perform an update query, on the data using the following command:

This is the output of the given query:

With the help of the above queries, we can efficiently create, manipulate, and update the data stored in JSON format.

What is the JSON Data Format?

JSON or JavaScript Object Notation is a format used to store tabular data, JSON file format is a human-readable format that is easy to parse by machine, the structure of JSON data involves organizing information into objects using key-value pairs.

JSON files are widely used across different domains such as:

1. Data Storage
2. Web Development
3. Serialization
4. Mobile Applications

JSON format is considered one of the best file formats used for storing data.

Example of JSON format:

When do you Use it?

You can use the JSON format in the following situations:

• Storing Complex Data:
  JSON format is used to store data such as nested lists and arrays.
• Storing Unstructured Data:
  JSON files are mainly used to store unstructured data, in simpler language the data that does not have any predefined structure.
• Integrating with other applications:
  JSON format is widely used for data interchange, so if you need to integrate it with other applications that use JSON, storing your data in JSON format can make the data exchange process easier.

However, there are still some drawbacks of JSON columns in MySQL which is why their use is not recommended everywhere.

How do you Use it?

We can use the JSON columns by declaring the JSON keyword while creating the table in MySQL.

Let's understand the following with the help of an example,

The above query will create the table STUDENT in the database with two columns:

1. id
2. data

Then we have to insert the data into the newly created table using the INSERT INTO clause.

This column will add the desired data to the STUDENT table.

Now to see the newly added record we have to run the SELECT query

This will be the output of the query:

Why should you Use it?

JSON files offer a variety of features that traditional file formats do not, these are some of them.

1. Light Weight:
   The JSON files are small and compact as compared to the normal XML files.
2. More Readable:
   The JSON format is easily readable for humans as well as computers.
3. Widely Supported:
   JSON format is widely supported across different platforms.
4. Support Complex Data Structure:
   The JSON format supports complex data structures such as Arrays and Nested Lists, making data storage more efficient.
5. Availability:
   MySQL offers a large variety of functions to manipulate JSON files.

What are the Disadvantages of Using JSON?

Apart from the feature JSON columns offer, there are also some drawbacks of JSON columns in MySQL:

Indexing

JSON columns do not support indexing, which hinders the quick retrieval of rows.

We can index the JSON columns with the use of generated columns which are defined by the user or database manager but using these user-defined indexes is very complex and inefficient as compared to the normal indexing of MySQL, this is one of the biggest drawbacks of JSON column in MySQL.

Limited Storage

JSON files offer only limited storage as compared to normal MySQL files, the limit of the JSON file is to store data up to 1GB hence storage of big files is not possible on the JSON files.

Insufficient Storage

If you can use primitive data types such as INT, CHAR, and FLOAT instead of using JSON file format, prefer primitive data types because they are more efficient in terms of database architecture and readability.

These are the main drawbacks of JSON columns in MySQL.