JsonLdGraphCodec class final

RDF Format implementation for the JSON-LD serialization format.

JSON-LD (JavaScript Object Notation for Linked Data) is a method of encoding Linked Data using JSON. It was designed to be easy for humans to read and write, while providing a way to represent RDF data in the widely-used JSON format.

JSON-LD Key Concepts

JSON-LD extends JSON with several special keywords (always prefixed with @):

• @context: Maps terms to IRIs and defines data types for values

  • Enables shorthand property names in place of full IRIs
  • Specifies how to interpret values (strings, numbers, dates, etc.)

• @id: Uniquely identifies a node (equivalent to the subject in RDF)

• @type: Indicates the resource's type (equivalent to rdf:type)

• @graph: Contains a set of nodes in a named graph

Example JSON-LD Document

{
  "@context": {
    "name": "http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/name",
    "knows": {
      "@id": "http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/knows",
      "@type": "@id"
    },
    "born": {
      "@id": "http://example.org/born",
      "@type": "http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#date"
    }
  },
  "@id": "http://example.org/john",
  "name": "John Smith",
  "born": "1980-03-15",
  "knows": [
    {
      "@id": "http://example.org/jane",
      "name": "Jane Doe"
    }
  ]
}

Benefits of JSON-LD

• Uses standard JSON syntax, familiar to web developers
• Compatible with existing JSON APIs and tools
• Designed to integrate easily with the web (HTTP, REST)
• Can express complex RDF data models in a human-readable form
• Supports framing, compaction, and expansion operations

File Extension and MIME Types

JSON-LD files typically use the .jsonld file extension. The primary MIME type is application/ld+json.