What is Semantic Diff?
Semantic diff is a comparison that respects the meaning of data rather than the raw text. For JSON, two objects are considered equal if they have the same keys and values, even when property order or whitespace differs. That avoids noise from formatting changes and focuses on real data differences. JSDiff’s JSON mode performs semantic comparison so that {"a":1,"b":2} and {"b":2,"a":1} are treated as identical.
Semantic Diff vs Text Diff
A text (line-based) diff would report differences whenever the bytes or lines change. Reordering keys, reformatting, or changing indentation would all show as changes. A semantic diff for JSON compares the logical structure: only added, removed, or changed keys and values are highlighted. That is especially useful for API responses, config files, and any JSON where format may vary but meaning matters.
How JSDiff Does Semantic JSON Diff
On JSDiff, choose the JSON mode to compare two JSON documents semantically. The tool parses both sides, normalizes structure, and highlights only meaningful differences. You can also use Lines, Words, or Chars for traditional text diff when you need character- or line-level comparison. For more on features, see JSDiff Features.
Related Terms
- JSON Diff – comparing two JSON documents
- Myers Algorithm – efficient sequence comparison
- Glossary index