Why the key is displaying as string?

Question

I am using jersey with springboot. Below is my code and response i get.

Code:

@Component
@Path("/books")
public class BookController {
    @GET
    @Produces("application/json")
    public Map getAllBooks() {

        Map jsonObject = new HashMap<>();
        jsonObject.put(1,1);
        jsonObject.put("2","string2");
        return jsonObject;
    }
}

Response in chrome browser :

{"1":1,"2":"string2"}

As you can see, the first object's key is an integer but it shows as string in the browser. how to display the key as an integer in the browser.

the key is always a string in a hash map if you don't set another type. but all keys have to be the same type — Auryn, Jan 16 '19 at 14:38
[Do the JSON keys have to be surrounded by quotes?](https://stackoverflow.com/q/949449/2587435) — Paul Samsotha, Jan 16 '19 at 20:53

score 1 · Accepted Answer · edited Oct 07 '21 at 10:55

According to the specification, the key of a JSON object is always a string. Quoting the RFC:

An object structure is represented as a pair of curly brackets surrounding zero or more name/value pairs (or members). A name is a string. A single colon comes after each name, separating the name from the value. A single comma separates a value from a following name. The names within an object SHOULD be unique.

So the answer to your question is: you can't.

Why the key is displaying as string?

1 Answers1